“There isn’t a high I haven’t fallen from or a low I haven’t crawled out of in my entire life.” I lead with this quote for those that aren’t patient enough to read this entire blog, that sums it up. I look back at my life…my entire life and remember all of the highs that have left me feeling untouchable, king of the world and all of the lows that were so low you don’t know how you will press on. Being aware of those moments has lead me to this stage of Zen….
I share this with you in hopes it helps you level the peaks and valley’s into a strong trend line when needed. It is as simple as taking every moment of your life that leaves you feeling devastated and zooming out, looking at all of the other times in your life you felt the same way, and reassuring yourself that as you look back at all your lows, they were followed by highs. This is a survival skill for me because of my line of work both as a Realtor and in my past as a manager I don’t just have to deal with my feelings, I have to absorb or deflect the feelings of my agents and clients amplifying my highs and lows.
You see, the trouble with a feeling is that when it varies from the bell curve, they feel like they don’t end…the low is all you see if you don’t consciously zoom out. The highs feel like you have “arrived” when really you are just visiting. So what should you walk away with when you are done reading this?
I am coining my strategy as, “The Zen Ratchet of Awesomeness”. Think of your relationships…they have lows…but wasn’t there always a high some point after the low? Your career has lows…and wasn’t a high around the corner? This is a pattern, but when in the moment it is all we see. 4 Steps to Ratcheting up your life!
1. When you are feeling low, zoom out and examine the last time you felt that way…this time is just like that time (trust me) and the high is coming (it always has before right?).
2. When you are feeling high…EMBRACE it, capitalize on it..push it as far as it can go like a professional athlete..push and do NOT take your self out of the game at this point.
3. Ratchet…using this stratgey doesn’t eliminate highs and lows, it simply makes the lows feel less low or at the very least finite. Then it makes the highs feel higher, longer.
4. Now instead of riding the roller coaster, you can watch a trend line of a gentle climb in the pursuit of sustainable happiness and growth.
Disclaimer…this works for me, it may not for you. My experience validates my theory…you can look at feelings like Christopher Columbus setting out to find the new world not knowing how long it would take or if it ever would happen or you can look at them like a power failure…the lights have gone out many times in my life…they always come back on.
Rock on my friends and thanks for visiting “In My Head”.
In My Head 