We see it all around us, all the time in nature. Death. The ending of a life cycle. But that’s exactly what it is. An integral part of a cycle. Death is not the dark, ominous end. It is the transfer of energy from one form, so that it may be drawn upon in another. It provides the means for life to carry on.
Making meaningful progress in our lives is never easy. Change is never easy. And why is that? Well, because death is never easy.
A big component of death is letting go. That is an immense struggle to come to some sense of comfort with because we have this deep seeded instinct to live. As it relates to our actually staying alive, when faced with death we generally have a very pronounced and adverse reaction to it. It is expressed in many different ways, but it is a strong one none the less.
Yet to continue to grow, to be able to use the energy generated by the action we take and the decisions we make, we have to be willing to let them go when the time comes. To allow for one cycle to end, that its release can feed the potential of what is to come. The harder we hang on, the greater the strangle hold we put on the opportunity for that to occur. Conversely, the better we get at recognizing when “death” stands at our door, the better we get at transitioning from one cycle to the next. With that increased efficiency comes an increase in the number of cycles we move through, translating into exponential progress made.
“Yeah, but it’s still so hard!”
Of course it is. It will never get easier. We can’t hope for it to get easier and look to change then. That’s passive. Life is not passive. Even when we need to just “go with the flow”, it’s not passive. We are still engaged, just in a more efficient way. Life is filled with process and movement at all times. It is us that decide how we interact with it. Because make no mistake, death is inevitable.
Sometimes it is forced upon us, offering the proverbial slap in the face to recognize the signs of death we can no longer ignore. For example, once upon a time I was going to study to be a Marine Biologist. It was a year of slammed door in my face after slammed door in my face as I work to make headway towards that goal. And I wasn’t recognizing it. In conjunction with going to school, I was qualified to enter the Canadian Naval Reserves, with an entry score and medical clearance that would see me on my way to becoming a Port Inspection Diver. Two weeks before shipping off to bootcamp, my knee blew out in a soccer tournament. Death. It was the beginnings of my making a shift down a path I never foresaw or planned for.
Other times it comes in support of the changes you are making.
- “This year I’m going to focus on Excellence. I’m going to go deep and get proficient at one thing (rather than try to do the million I was always undertaking).” A week later, suffered a severe back injury that took me more or less a year to recover from. Just to make sure I followed through. And if it weren’t for that injury, I would have tried to move ahead too quickly and do too much. This saw me progress faster than I ever have before, this time in a physical system that has immense depth and breadth, Circular Strength Training (and TACFIT), taking me way beyond my original goal of focusing on Kettlebell lifting.
- “Alright. I’m going to create and distribute my first full fledged training program.” As I was getting ready to start shooting the footage for the Clubbell Mass Evolution, I lost my camera. I never lose my electronics. I had to buy a new one. A sweet one. It also limited how much time I had and made me very focused on what was a priority.
- “Working at this rabid pace is a little crazy. It was needed, but balance is what I now need. Time to slow down.” I broke my toe. That really forced me to slow down and take it easy.
- “Everything is in place. Now I can finally break from previous patterns, move forward in a steady manner and accomplish more in with less work, while making more time for my family and more time for me, to get into that productive space of heightened creativity.” The hard drive to my computer crashed, leaving me without it for weeks (which is tough when the majority of your work is done on it) and wiping out alot of materials developed during the early years of previous patterns that had laid the foundation for alot of my business. Now I have to re-do alot of it as I move forward with my revamped model. Convenient, no? Oh yeah, the battery in my car died. Same day. My vehicle helps me get to out of the way locations and haul my gear. Well this all took out any chance of jumping the gun and forced me to finish filling in the holes and making good on my commitment to this path.
“HELLO?!! Are you kidding me?! I’m dying here.” Exactly. Death. Whether it occurs to eventually force our hand or it comes in support of the action we take to our continued evolution, it is necessary for the transition.
So don’t fight it. Accept it. Embrace it. For when we smile upon it as a friend doing everything in its power to assist us, we release the constricting grip that our own fear of it has on us. Then, do we truly begin to live!
Dare To Evolve
Shane.
*Next week we’ll follow up in greater detail on just how to do that. : )
Well said, Shane! This is an essential part of finding peace and success in life. We must be active in our lives – making decisions, taking steps, making effort. But we must also know when to just let go, release the reins, and allow things to unfold and become clear. It’s no easy task. I think the key to this is being present-minded.
Once again, I must say that you have earned every success and joy in your life, Shane! 🙂
Thanks Sarah. : )
In what you’ve said brings up an important point. In general, we often equate success with hitting the “peak”, the “end point”. And once you are there, you can maintain. Yet there is no such thing as “maintain”. It’s a constant wave, moving up or moving down, moving to or fro, in or out.
And having that presence of mind allows us to ride the wave with greater success, being able to draw from both the crest and the trough, making the transitions between the two faster and smoother (rather than the whole “everythingisfinenothingcanrockmyboati’minabsoluteharmonyandpeace…”)
Thanks again for sharing!