Life can be good sometimes. At other times, it may hurt us so badly. Life can be one whole jolly ride at a point… and before one knows, so many vicissitudes have ambushed them. There are ups and downs in this life. They are our fat and lean seasons.
We can’t have it all every time. Life can’t be rosy all through even though we wish it were. There will be times for enjoyment and times for managing scarce resources. There will be times of abundance and those of lack. Like in the days of Joseph in Egypt, there will be times of bumper harvest and times of famine. If you are in your fat season today, know that it is time bound.
Our fat season can be our youthful days when we have all the strength and time. One’s fat season may be the days when they are single and have so many opportunities coming their way. A person’s decent job could be their fat season. A woman’s fat season could be when she is young and beautiful and has many suitors thronging her home.
Fat seasons are not lean seasons. In one’s fat season, they have fans. In their lean season, they have friends.
In one’s fat season, there are abundant opportunities. There are opportunities that show up only in our fat season. We are like light in our fat season. Everybody wants to be connected to us. So many people troop our way. However, everything takes a nosedive when our lean season walks in.
Everybody must take advantage of their fat season because in the lean season, most of the opportunities they used to have will cease. If we are not able to take advantage of opportunities in our fat season, when the lean season comes, we will be found wanting.
Many of us tend to forget everything about lean seasons when all is well with us. We live lavishly and assume there will never be a time that we may be in need. We waste available resources because they are in abundance, giving no thought to what the future may hold.
How one lives in their fat season tells how their lean season will treat them. In the days of abundance, how we treat people and opportunities that come our way foretell how such will treat us when we don’t have as much power as we used to have.
When times are good, remember they won’t be so forever. Treat people well. In the days when you are at the top, never assume you will be there forever. Life is like a wheel. It moves one to the top in one moment and moves another to that same position in another moment.
Everybody’s life is characterized by a fat and lean season. There will be both good and bad times in our lives and we ought to know how to manage either of them when they show up. It is amazing how many of us live profligately in our fat seasons only to be impoverished when life takes a downturn. Anytime you are tempted to waste your time and money, remember that fat seasons are not forever!
Our fat season is a season for saving. It is a time we need to store our abundance for the future. If one wants to be safe in their lean season, they ought to save in their fat season. They ought to save when they have fame and power instead of wasting their wealth on women, alcohol and drugs. The enjoyment that comes with the fat season is a reminder that the pain that comes with the lean season is not something pleasant to go back to.
Of a truth, what one saves when times are good is what will keep them safe when times are bad. When one is fit and healthy, what they save is what will benefit them when their strength begins to fail. In our days of fame, what we invest in is what we will depend on when the fame is gone because fat seasons are not forever.
Oftentimes, the good times precede the bad ones. The good times may be the days we have everything at our disposal. They may be the days life is favorable to us. However, while we live in success, we should be mindful of spending in excess. While all is well with us, we should be careful about what we spend on— assets, not liabilities. Nothing lasts forever, especially the good times.
When all is well, live in a manner that when all is not well, you will be cushioned. Spend your time and money well. Be careful of the company you fall in. Watch your associations. What you save in your fat season is what will keep you safe in your lean season.
By Kobina Ansah
The writer is a Ghanaian playwright and Chief Scribe of Scribe Communications (www.scribecommltd.com), an Accra-based writing firm. His new play, “Emergency Wedding”, happens on Saturday, 25th & Sunday, 26th April, 2020 at National Theatre.