Whether you find yourselves at the peaks of the mountain, the depths of the valley or even trudging somewhere in between, one thing is certain, change will come.

When I was much younger and smarter, I realized that like the physical world, the human experience is always moving in and out of seasons. In fact, at the time I imagined that I would need a daily reminder of this, and I memorialized this belief symbolically in my wedding ring.

I had a jeweler create this ring with four sides surrounding a circle representing the continuity of life surrounded by the different seasons life will take. Since that time, we have moved to several homes, worked at different jobs, watched life spring forth with the birth of our children and watch life slip away. Despite my best efforts to make the high points last forever, they slip away. Fortunately, with the same  predictability the low points have vanished. Sometimes these changes have come at exactly the right time, but most often life’s seasons have changed when I least expected it or when I had given up hope for the spring. But just as you cannot look at a tree in the depth of winter and command it to spring forth a new bud, you cannot pop a magic pill or throw a magic life preserver to the seasons of life.

From a tiny sprout, an oak tree becomes a magnificent creation. In the first years of growth, the changes are dramatic and measurable. The seasons bring the trees dangerously close to death and at other times abundantly  full of life, but each season brings maturity and depth to the support system of the entire tree. As the oak matures, its outward growth becomes indiscernable yet it is still developing…seasoning into a solid fixture.

Today, the memento left by the younger me served as a reminder that change will come. While some winters are more harsh than others, these seasons indelibly mark our lives. While the trees mark these seasons with growth rings, us humans carry it wisdom.