Demands pull our attention in many directions. Our aspirations pull us upward and competing forces tug in other ways. Professionally feel the demands from work and productivity pulling downward. That creates tension with our 
dreams and we may sense we are going to be torn apart. Often we hear that people feel as if the practical pull is greater than the buoyancy of ambition. More than being tethered, in those circumstances the net movement is a descent. The arrows in this picture use size to illustrate the unequal forces. Our spirit is pulled down.
dreams and we may sense we are going to be torn apart. Often we hear that people feel as if the practical pull is greater than the buoyancy of ambition. More than being tethered, in those circumstances the net movement is a descent. The arrows in this picture use size to illustrate the unequal forces. Our spirit is pulled down.
Recently, we learned that the metaphor of achieving balance is not sufficient. Instead the paradoxes we confront need to be coordinated. Realizing that the weights of various responsibilities cannot be reasonably set against one another, we can choose to focus upon managing the opportunities and entreaties without trying to stand in their midst.
Instead of standing between competing forces, we can position ourselves in order to coordinate the pulls. In academic lingo the label is individual agency. Many of us are okay calling it gumption. Instead of being stuck in the m
iddle, we can re-orient so the two forces are no longer oppositional. We still depict idealism as an upward force. The difference is treating progress as pulling us forward. Without attending to the upward pull, we can move. The less we resist, the faster we will advance. By adding the vertical component, the direction changes. Better yet, there is no loss associated with the combination. In contrast to being torn between competing interests, this shift in position creates new results, and outcomes that move the individual into new directions.
What promotes the capacity to consider the forces in this new way? Topologically, the shift is from one- to two-dimensional space. Instead of either/or the forces coordinate in an "and" that offers fresh possibilities. I'll confess shifting dimensions is not a simple mental feat: here's a clip from Flatland to illustrate the challenges. One step toward this transformation to imagining that one does not need to be pulled apart. Another is to envision how this might make things different. Next is to witness others who are working this coordination. And ultimately, it's about trying to live and work in ways where the pulls contribute rather than degrade one's energy.
iddle, we can re-orient so the two forces are no longer oppositional. We still depict idealism as an upward force. The difference is treating progress as pulling us forward. Without attending to the upward pull, we can move. The less we resist, the faster we will advance. By adding the vertical component, the direction changes. Better yet, there is no loss associated with the combination. In contrast to being torn between competing interests, this shift in position creates new results, and outcomes that move the individual into new directions.
What promotes the capacity to consider the forces in this new way? Topologically, the shift is from one- to two-dimensional space. Instead of either/or the forces coordinate in an "and" that offers fresh possibilities. I'll confess shifting dimensions is not a simple mental feat: here's a clip from Flatland to illustrate the challenges. One step toward this transformation to imagining that one does not need to be pulled apart. Another is to envision how this might make things different. Next is to witness others who are working this coordination. And ultimately, it's about trying to live and work in ways where the pulls contribute rather than degrade one's energy.
