Dear Loving People,
I agree with Arthur Schopenhauer who says “Life
swings like a pendulum backward and forward between pain and boredom”. As
a matter of fact, Life is a lot like a swinging pendulum. On the one side of the
pendulum is happiness, fulfillment, excitement, variety, interest, and on the
other side is the potential for failure, risk, disappointment, and criticism.
Recently, I kept late nights at a time when I
would much rather be sleeping than staying awake in the dark thinking things
over. But the truth of the matter is, this pendulum equation of life has been
ringing in my mind for a while and enough to keep me sleepless. I have been
thinking of what will happen if I brought my pendulum to a standstill. If that
were to happened, it means for certain that I will not have issues like failure,
risk, disappointment and no one will say anything bad about me; however, I will
likewise miss out on all the excitement of life, the fulfillment, the variety,
the interest and the happiness.
During these reflections, I realized how much
I micro managed the last seven months of my work life. Every day I left my house
for work, I was deeply worried about one work-related thing or the other, as if
that was not bad enough, I got tired of the management system in place. In
fact, the mere thought that I will meet some faces at my office spoiled my day;
I got really disappointed with some of the routines.
From that moment, my pendulum continued to
swing. I critically examined all that happened around me in the office. Every ‘Yes’
I said had a purpose. I wanted to be at the center of every negotiation, for
short, I wanted to become a ‘Mr. Fixit’. The pressure was mounting and I was
unwilling to stop it. Many colleagues who found profit in what I was doing congratulated
me, but inside I was screaming “This is not part of the plan.” I thus
concluded I badly needed a change.
For seven good months, I fought tooth and nail (bones and brains) to get out of
such an emasculating system and out of the prison of my depression… guess what,
I did. I got a new job!
The pendulum was finally swinging in a
direction I was happy with. Life changed. I changed. Anxiety and fear no longer
controlled what I was doing (or lack of doing). Depression no longer had a hold
of my heart and spirit and for the first time in my life I was absolutely
present in the moment.
Do you realize how much you cannot swing a pendulum one
way? Think about this for all aspects of your life. In every
relationship there is a risk that your heart can be broken. When you raise a
family there is a risk that child will make bad choices that bring pain to
themselves and others or shame to your family as a whole. However you
don’t run away from a relationship or a family because you are scared of the Potential
for pain. You are willing to take a risk because you want the other side
of the pendulum.
Now think about your business. On the
one side is financial freedom, excitement, fulfillment, success, but on the
other side is the Potential for rejection, criticism, failure and
disappointment.
The journey to a fulfilling life and that of
achievement is about finding balance and honestly, I know I have not
been doing a good job of finding that balance. Contradictory ideas have been running
rampart in my mind and playing themselves out in ways that I never thought
would happen to me. While work is essential and central to me now, my recent act
of frequently moving jobs is really painful at times…I want better jobs, my
mind is saying otherwise.
Unfortunately, I often meet people who let
the pendulum stand still. They don’t want the failure, the rejection or the
disappointment, so they don’t take massive action where risk is present.
However, what they fail to recognize is that by making this choice they are
also missing out on the other side of the pendulum – financial freedom,
fulfillment, variety and excitement.
My advice – get moving, stretch
all options beyond limits, generate enthusiasm and swing your pendulum as high
as it can get! You must dare a lot in order to get a lot.
The less you are scared of the “bad side” of
the pendulum and are willing to charge ahead then the pendulum will eventually
swing to the good side. Nobody will hold you accountable if you fail anyway,
failure is never permanent unless you accept it as such. That is how life was
designed by the powers that be to function.
I believe this is a
universal law – if you are willing to push the pendulum to the “bad side” then
it will inevitably swing the other way! The ‘good side’
At any one moment from now, you have the
choice either to swing your pendulum or not. Whichever choice you make will
certainly shape your future.
To your success
