Great Circle

Peaks and troughs – you better get used to them. Most of us experience highs and lows in our life. We often experience these as a rising or falling in our energy level or the degree to which we feel positive emotions like the creative impulse, happiness, optimism, motivation and peace (the sense that all is well).Everyone faces up and downs, sad days and glad days. Everyone faces obstacles and everyone gets a break occasionally (even its only a CD going cheap!).           

To truly live a life based on our values and moving toward our vision is not  helped by trying to iron out the bumps to make it as easy as possible. It is helped by accepting the rough with the smooth, while neither letting the “rough” shake us apart nor the “smooth” cause us to grow complacent.

Consider the following habits of people who are considered “well-adjusted”. 

Recognising the cycles of life.

While all good things come to an end, so do all bad things. The Western addiction to comfort and pleasure is an unnatural as the way some cultures’ embrace pain as a sacred thing. The truth is that both pleasure and pain are a part of human existence and there is meaning and value in both. Ask the athlete who wins gold (or silver!) whether it was worth the agony and the sacrifice.

When times are easy, we become complacent and (understandably) prefer basking in our comfort than pushing ourselves to develop further. When times are hard, there is an opportunity for personal growth and discovery. It is sad that many people prefer to find comfort zones into which they can crawl when facing hardship, rather than persistently searching for a way forward and growing as a result. 

Cultivating an objective perspective.

Navigating the highs and lows is more about learning to take an objective perspective. Sometimes I’ve been able to mentally take myself outside my circumstances and look at them as if I am someone else.

What happens when you do this is your stress levels lower, you see things differently and more in line with the broader story and context of your life.

Most of the time, for me to achieve this has taken the assistance of a coach or close friend.

Keeping something in reserve.

In ancient times, a Pharaoh had a dream. He dreamed that 7 fat cows came up out of the Nile river to graze. After them, 7 scrawny cows came out, walked over to the fat ones and ate them! His advisors called on a little known mystic to help the Emperor interpret his dream. His interpretation: that 7 years of incredibly abundant harvest were about to arrive … closely followed by 7 years of absolute famine. He recommended the Pharaoh get an administrator to put aside 20% of the country’s abundant harvests of grain ready for the lean times, rather than squandering it all.  The Emperor’s order: appoint the mystic as the administrator. (His plan saved the lives of thousands by the way).

It is easy to draw a financial lesson from this story. However we could also apply it to our physical and mental energies.

Save yr best energy for activities that drive you forward in life (or give meaning to life), rather than using it all on activities that have no lasting value.

So…

Whatever comes, keep your vision and values right in front of you. Don’t let the ups and downs change who you are or where you’re headed!