Every season of life has at least one thing that, in ten years, you'll miss. The trick is to notice it now. This prompt asks you to write down your favourite part of where you are — even if where you are also includes things you'd change. The two can be true at the same time.
Finding it now spares your future self some regret.
Naming what you love about this season helps you actually live in it, instead of standing slightly outside it waiting for the next one. It also corrects a common mistake: assuming a season is bad because parts of it are hard. Most seasons are mixed; the favourite part is usually visible once you look.
Useful when you're in a phase you're tempted to write off (first year with a baby, full-time caregiving, recovering from something, the early days of a new role), or before a big change, when you're about to lose something specific to now.
•
Describe the season briefly in plain words.
•
Name the single favourite part, in detail.
•
Note whether it's likely to last past this season.
•
Identify one small way to honour it this week.
•
End by acknowledging that this part will eventually pass.
Other ways to ask the same thing
“What's the best part of where you are right now?”
“What about this chapter will you want to remember?”
“What in this season would you miss most?”
Don't reach for an idealised version. A season can be tiring and still have something tender at the centre. If you genuinely struggle to find a favourite part, look at people, sensations, or small daily rhythms — not at outcomes. The favourite parts are almost never outcomes.
Season: second year with a toddler, working part-time, more tired than ever, slowly finding a new shape. Favourite part: the half-hour between his bath and his bed, when he is warm, slightly drunk on sleep, and uncharacteristically still — leaning against me while we read the same book for the fortieth time. It is the one window I'm fully here, and he knows it. Likely to last? No. He'll outgrow it. To honour it: phone in another room during this half-hour, every night this week. Acknowledgment: 'You won't always sit on me like this. I'm glad I'm noticing it.'