“Maybe life was just a series of phases—one phase after another after another. Maybe, in a couple of years, I’d be going through the same phase as the eighteen-year-old lifeguards.”
― Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Last week, the son of one of my closest friends was married in Denver. 90% of the wedding party from my buddy’s wedding, 31+ years ago, was in attendance. This Saturday, I get the honor of officiating my Goddaughter’s wedding near Iowa City. Friends and families that span back almost 40 years will be there. It’s an amazing ten-day stretch!
We talked at the wedding in Colorado about the “phases and stages” of our lives, and how they’ve ebbed and flowed. We used to see one another at reunions, or for long weekends. Then it was our own weddings. Then baptisms for the kids. Occasionally another reunion, and too often recently, funerals. To have joyous events brings us together again warms our hearts and revives our friendships.
Businesses go through phases and stages, too. Growth spurts. Challenging times. Capital raises. Distributions. Organic growth, growth by acquisition. New market entrants. Market changes. Amazon. Apple. Google.
It got me thinking, even in funerals, there is joy in being together, in celebrating a life of the one we will miss.
And in business, there is something valuable in every phase, too. Lessons to learn. Moments to remember. Mistakes to grow from. Relationships won and lost.
It’s almost as if life, and business, are about what we learn now and what we do next, based on what we’ve learned.
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