Sharing the Harvest

By Alice Gaddi Roselo

There comes a time after the planting, the tending, and the waiting when we finally step into the field to gather our harvest. After we journey through seeds, sprouts, and blossoms, we arrive at this season of abundance. Yet the deepest joy of our harvest is not found in how much we accumulate, but in how freely we share it with others.

As I grow older, I find myself reflecting on what my own harvest might be. It is certainly not just a list of achievements or material possessions. My basket holds the lessons learned along the way, the friendships lovingly nurtured, the mistakes that taught me well, the opportunities I was fortunate to receive, and the experiences that have shaped who I am today.

In my work coaching teachers for their licensure exams in the Philippines, I witness a golden harvest whenever a student tops the board exams or earns the license they have worked hard for. But Guided Autobiography (GAB) has broadened my view of the meaning of abundance. As a GAB student, I learned to look back and discover meaning in experiences I once considered ordinary. As a GAB instructor, I now have the privilege of helping others do the same. While I may facilitate the process, I am also a recipient: every story shared in a GAB class adds to my understanding of love, resilience, loss, and faith. It also broadens my perspective on the different ways people make meaning of their lives.

Perhaps one of the sweetest gifts of growing older for a senior like me is having a fuller basket from which to give. I can now share stories of failures that turned out to be blessings in disguise or redirections to greener pastures, of losses that taught me life skills I might not otherwise have learned, of economic hardships and unexpected turns that showed me how resilience is built over time. I can also share what I have learned about forgiveness, not always for the sake of the other person, but also for the inner peace it can bring me.

Sharing our harvest does not always mean giving advice. Often, the better gift for us to offer, especially to younger generations, is simply to tell our stories: what happened, the choices we faced, what worked, what did not, and how we found our way through. We lay our stories down like a feast, leaving listeners free to take whatever nourishes their own journey.

We can share our harvest in countless meaningful ways: by mentoring, teaching, encouraging, listening deeply, volunteering, preserving family stories, passing on traditions, or simply being present when someone needs us. What feels ordinary to us may be valuable to another as they find their own way through life.

So perhaps the question in this season of harvest is not only, “What have I gathered from life?” but also, “What from my basket am I able and willing to share?”

For, tucked within every harvest are the seeds for another planting. A story shared, a lesson offered, or a kindness passed forward can take root in someone else’s life.

And that, surely, is one of life’s most meaningful harvests.