Storms

In the end, we must all find our own way. There must be that will to find a way. And the people we surround ourselves with, we are all just walking each other home (Ram Dass).

In the context of recent events, these past two weeks have been some of the biggest challenges of my life.

When we feel like our world has been flipped over, there are many opportunities if we can see past our turbulent emotions. I believe we can only see such opportunities amidst the chaos, if we have trained our minds to respond under pressure and stress. It's common to subconsciously and consciously blame someone or something. It may seem so painstakingly obvious, who is to blame. And yes, most of the times there is something or someone that may have spurred the situation. But most of the times also, this identification often leads down to amplification of anger and other bits of victim mentality. This is one of the most difficult first steps I've found: it's so easy to blame someone or something. It's easier to wallow in negativity. It's harder to accept something that has happened and seek solutions. Once you truly understand this, it's a matter of pushing past habits and comfort consistently.

We need to train ourselves to stay calm within the storm. We need to be able to think quickly and decisively, almost like a habit. The value that is obtained from prolonged thinking has diminished returns. At times like this, stop, reset, find another opportunity to re-evaluate. Again, these processes and systems only come out after many overcoming of adversaries. We create ourselves under pressure and we find out more about ourselves and others, through overcoming such adversaries together.

There is no state of perfection. You must let the pressure that's built up out incrementally to last sustainably. Life is no sprint.

Life is a series of choices. The investments, the seeds you have sowed, will incrementally stack up so when the storm comes, you are ready and you have the right support mechanisms in place. If your life is out of balance and a big storm hits, you may not have the foundation to handle it. I really respect those whose lives are out of balance and when the big storm hits, they muster everything they can to get back onto their feet. Interestingly, it's these big storms, these wake up calls that have lead them to the best versions of ourselves.