It’s easy to fall into a rut.
To find yourself just going through the motions.
To get complacent.
Sometimes you need a reminder that these are the days of your life; that this is it.
The writer Annie Dillard suggests, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing.”
Be mindful as you go about your days, your hours.
They are your one and only life.
Moments of despair can knock you off your game.
One such moment is what we call the “false summit.”
It happens when you think you “should” have arrived… but you haven’t; when you think you “should” be done… and you’re not.
Moments of despair – false summits – can rattle even those at the top of their game.
When elite swimmer Florence Chadwick made her first attempt to cross the treacherous 26-mile strait between Catalina Island and the coast of California, she quit. She’d been in the shark-infested waters for more than 15 hours. The fog was so thick, she could barely see her support boat.
Cold and tired and despondent, she asked her team to pull her from the water. When she got in the boat, she discovered that she’d given up just a mile short of the shore.
She gave up b
Staying the course is so much easier when you can see your summit. But the truth is that false summits are pretty common.
This is when the “why” of what you’re doing really matters. Connect again with why you’re doing what you’re doing… why it matters to you… why it matters to the people you serve… why it matters to the world.
Claim that why.
It’s the fuel that will help you stay steady through the fog; persevere across those false summits; push through those moments of despair; so that you can achieve those hopes and dreams you hold dear.
It’s a beautiful, soaring tower of granite. Deep in the Tetons of Wyoming.
A dear friend of mine and I were going to give it a go. And each of us had a slightly different idea of where the route went.
I climbed up one narrow crack system.
He endeavored to climb another.
For 40 minutes, he flailed until he finally saw that his way just wouldn’t yield.
After more than a bit of cussing, my buddy joined me on the approach I had chosen.
Now, to be sure, my way wasn’t without its challenges… but it seemed to just flow.
And that’s often how you know that the route you’re on is the “right” one.
Worthy goals – whether the search for a new career, or a new love; the writing of a book, or the launch of a new program; freedom from debt or the pivot to a business of your own – are always challenging… fraught with pitfalls for the unwary, laced with discouragement and despair.
They require resolve; they demand courage and tenacity.
And… finding the way to achieve such goals can turn back even the hardiest of us.
Is it just hard? Or are you off course?
The “right way” is the way that flows.
When the kids were little and when they’d misbehave, I’d send them to “time out.”
“Go to your room and think about what you’ve done!”
There’s still some wisdom in that admonition.
All of our problems stem from our inability to sit quietly in a room alone, the philosopher, Blaise Pascal, suggests.
Being alone with ourselves, especially in this age of noise, can be a scary proposition.
But… in that stillness IS your power.
Take some “time out.”
Most of us have a go-to in times of stress and overwhelm.
Your go-to can be resourceful. Or not.
Ours wouldn’t be for everyone. But it works for us.
In order to go the distance, in order to do the work you’re meant to do, in order to serve the people you’re meant to serve, you need to seek out those experiences and places that allow you to rest and re-create.
What’s your drug of choice?
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