Thursday, May 23, 2013

Winter is Coming

I recently started watching the hit HBO series Game of Thrones. I’m watching it on DVD, starting with season 1, episode 1, and working my way forward. The series concerns the dynastic struggles of a series of noble houses, set in the fictional kingdom of Westeros, a medieval fantasy realm.


One of the noble houses, the Starks of the North, have the familial motto “Winter is Coming.” In the context of the series, the constant awareness of a cold, bleak future engenders a certain dourness of outlook, a dogged determination to perform one’s duty without joy.

But it occurs to me that as mottos go, when could do far worse. For Winter is coming! Not just the season of snow and cold. But the metaphorical winter that periodically comes to all of us. We are all subject to the unexpected illness, the unplanned breakdown. All of us occasionally face family emergencies. On the career side, very few of us escape winter’s storms. A plant closing or big layoff catches us. A market shift or technological change can doom or current career, and make our skill set obsolete.

Winter is coming, and the time to prepare is during the more verdant seasons of our lives. Spend less than you earn, and invest the difference. Keep a cash reserve, to help weather the storms. One of the most neglected ways to prepare is to invest in ones self. Education is a lifelong process, and we should all be trying to both stay current with rapidly advancing technology and acquire new skills in areas that may be far away from our current careers.

Winter is coming. But the actions we take as individuals have a lot to do with how long winter lasts. By our own efforts we can protect ourselves from the worst of winter’s ravages, and bring about an early spring.

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