This Is Just The Season You Are In

I started my manufacturing company in 1994. By 1997, we were on fire. Profits soared, our team tripled, and it felt like we had cracked the code. The momentum seemed unstoppable. But in 2001, reality checked in. Sales dropped 20% almost overnight. Panic set in. I wondered if we had failed. Maybe our luck had run out.

But over the years, I’ve watched this exact pattern repeat. It came in 2008. Again in 2015. Then 2018. In 2024, after four strong years of record growth, we were down again. It’s tempting to frame each downturn as a mistake or a sign of poor judgment. But after three decades in business, I see it for what it is: the natural pull of regression to the mean.

Statisticians describe it simply – extreme outcomes tend to be followed by more average ones. If something swings high, it will likely settle lower next time. If it drops low, it will often recover. The concept sounds sterile, academic even. But once you see it play out in real life, it becomes something deeper. It’s not just a statistical principle. It’s a reflection of how life moves.

Business doesn’t grow in a straight line. Neither do relationships. Neither do we. There’s a rhythm to everything. Success rises, but then levels out. Struggles come, but they don’t last. The cycle keeps turning.

You see this in marriage. In the beginning, it’s all romance, energy, dreams. Then life hits: work stress, kids, illness, money. There are days when the connection feels distant, when everything feels like effort. But most of the time, it’s just the natural rhythm. The closeness comes back. Love grows deeper. You learn each other again. There’s real strength in coming back together, over and over.

This is how seasons work. Spring doesn’t last. Neither does winter. Both pass, both return. The mistake is believing we’re meant to live in endless spring. That illusion causes burnout, restlessness, and disappointment. But when you accept that cycles are natural, you stop resisting them. You begin to live with more peace.

Over time, I’ve learned to approach the high points with gratitude, but also caution. Success is wonderful, but it doesn’t last forever. That doesn’t make it less valuable. It makes it fragile, and therefore worth protecting. So when things go well, I prepare. I stay light on my feet. I remind myself: this isn’t the new forever. It’s just this season’s turn.

And when things fall, I don’t flinch as hard anymore. I focus on what matters. I make fewer moves, but more careful ones. I lean on the people I trust. The downturn feels different when you remember that it’s pattern.

There’s something freeing in knowing that most of life’s extreme highs and lows will level out. Regression to the mean teaches you to be less reactive. It trains you to zoom out. You stop judging every moment as final.

We’re not built to sprint forever. We’re not failing just because we’re tired. Our marriages, our businesses, our bodies. They all move through waves. Each phase is real, each phase is temporary. What matters is how we carry ourselves through each turn.

So the next time you hit a high, hold it with open hands. When you face a low, don’t assume it’s forever. Look around. What can you protect? Who do you need to stay close to? What do you want to remember when the cycle turns again?

Don’t waste energy fighting the cycle. Learn its rhythm. Let it shape you. There’s wisdom in the pattern, if you choose to see it.