Face Your Anticlines and Synclines

Dear loving people,

For those of you who have a grounding in geology like I do, you must have read about anticlines and synclines. Now, whether you did geology or not, in what we call structural geology, Anticlines and synclines are the up and down folds that usually occur together and are caused by compressional stress. Specifically, an anticline is a fold that is convex up and has its oldest beds at its core whereas a syncline is a fold with younger layers closer to the center of the structure and convex down. You can remember the difference by noting that anticlines form an “A” shape, and synclines form the bottom of an “S.” 

I took you into this geological class not to worry your brains with details but rather so you can see how nature epitomizes the human condition perfectly. You must have hear or read about the ups and downs people go through daily. Do you see the similarity with anticlines (ups) and Synclines (downs)? Great! Stay on…“Transformation is a process, and as life happens there are tons of ups and downs. It's a journey of discovery - there are moments on mountaintops and moments in deep valleys of despair.” Says Rick Warren.

Some days you’re up that is at your anticline. You’re in tune with the universe, your life is flowing, and the present moment makes sense. And other days you’re down at your syncline. You might be in an emotional mood—because you’re tired, you received bad news, or maybe you just can’t access your sense of purpose. It happens. But we are not our emotions…and as conscious humans, we actually have the power to manage them (and their fluctuations). We may forget this, but it’s true.

In the world of work, Deepika Padukone says “I feel ups and downs are a part of one's career, and this totally depends on how you take it. You can either be knocked down by the negative things, or you can take it in a positive way and learn from it.”

You must remember at all times that life is a journey, not a destination. Know that everything happens for a reason; maybe we're just meant to learn a lesson from all the bad situations that are going on, or maybe it's there to make us realize something big that we couldn't see earlier. You see when I thought about writing this article, I contemplated on why I wanted to write about it, and it became clear to me that the essence of the analogy is that we are forever riding the ups and downs of life, and that sometimes when the downs (synclines) get really down, we lose touch with reality. In those moments, all we need is hope and a gentle nudge to remind us that it is only temporary, and that the highs (Anticlines) are not far away.

Remember Liana Liberato’s words “Surround yourself with good people who encourage and love you. There are always ups and downs, no matter how successful you are.”

Meet Angela and Raymond

Dear loving people,

Are you motivated enough to achieve what you really want in life? And how hard do you push yourself to get things done? Wanting to do something and motivating yourself to actually do it are two different things.

Angela – an ever radiant young lady visited her fiancée Raymond only to find him very sad, somber, and obviously upset with something. Angela asked what happened to him. Raymond said he suffered a serious setback and now will never be able to achieve his goal. Raymond, looking so desperate asked Angelina to give him advice what he should do next, but Angelina just asked Raymond to lead her to the hills where their love all started.

The road there was difficult and long. But Raymond immediately agreed to take her there once again. When they reached the hills where they had kissed for the first time, Angelina, pointing to the top of the highest hill ahead of them, said that she needed to get there. Raymond was surprised, but decided to take her there especially as she had never climbed there before. With the greatest difficulty, Raymond helped his fiancée to climb to the hilltop, most of the times even carried her on his back.

Raymond after a hard struggle, got to the top of the hill sweating profusely. He put down his fiancée and laughed happily and exclaimed “Goodness, I made it.” — “Once upon a time you sometimes resorted home in tears? Many are the times when you came to me completely beaten-up” – Angela told him. – “Various circumstances teased you. Do you remember why? Exactly!”

Raymond looked around and nodded. He recalled the first day they met and how they suffered to get to the top of that hill. And they called this hill a ‘Kilimanjaro’, because only few people in the community could get to its top. “In that times I was unable to get there. This hill seemed an impregnable rock to me…”

“And today you not only climbed there, but carried me on your back too,” — Angela said and looked at her fiancée: — “How do you think, why?”

“Perhaps I focused on the importance to bring you here as a demonstration of my love for you. I suppose that gave me the energy to do it,” — Raymond shrugged. — “I think I became stronger and fitter… all because I love you”

“And the formidable ‘Kilimanjaro’ suddenly turned into a harmless mound”— said Angela. — “You got my advice. Increase the level of your motivation and you will accomplish all you want”

Motivation by the way, is the combination of desire, values, and beliefs that drives you to take action. These three motivating factors, and/or lack of them, are at the root of why people behave the way they do. Because you ultimately control your values, beliefs, and desires, you can influence your motivations. This means, if you consider something important and assign value to it, you are more likely to do the work it takes to attain the goal. When motivation originates from an internal source and is combined with a realistic goal and circumstance, the odds of a good outcome are greatly increased.