We think of life as moving in a single direction.
Left to right. Up then down.
So it is that when things are going well in some area of life — we’re cruising professionally, swooning romantically, killing it creatively, clicking socially, thriving spiritually (and maybe even firing on all these cylinders at once) — we optimistically believe (even if this belief contradicts all our past experience) that we’ve finally found a groove that’ll last forever.
So it is too, that when things are going poorly in one or all of the areas of our lives, we despairingly believe (even if this belief contradicts all our past experience), that the good times will never return.
Yet life is far more cyclical than it is linear.
We are close with someone; then more distant; then close again. Our creativity blossoms; then withers; then re-blooms. The heavens rain down revelation; then become seemingly sealed; only to open once more.
Finding your rhythm requires a fortuitous confluence of factors: physical health, the environment, the mysteries of mood. And not just your mood, either; it’s hard to get in sync if you’re feeling positive, passionate, and proactive, but the people with whom you interact are not.
Given this, it’s a wonder that, once lost, we’re ever able to find our groove again.
But we do.
Or, at least we can — as long as we continue to do the things that generated the original momentum in the first place.
The ironic thing about giving up during a dry spell that seems like it’ll never improve, is that doing so is the only response that guarantees it won’t.
Eventually, life’s stars will align again, but only if you keep pursuing, pushing, planting, praying — only if you keep yourself in a position to catch a ride on the next go round.
The post Sunday Firesides: It’ll Come Back Around appeared first on The Art of Manliness.
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