March 17, 2019
So I've always been a skeptic of blind optimism. I don't care if it hurts, I want the truth. It's the only way I can make reasonable decisions with a sense of confidence. We live in a very complex world, we have a very limited perspective, and the reality is that positive thinking without committed action is a turd in the hand.
But due to uncertainty, we can never be sure that our actions will pay off, or our perspectives accurately reflect real circumstances. So we often fail to act at all, or choose a single course that seems like the only way to go. Despite it all, we must still try to make sense of the things of life.
Weightlessness approaches this from the inside out, and addresses that painful gap between reality and our expectations. Mindful awareness allows us to add space in a way, to filter impulsive, emotional responses from objectively real happenings. It gives us the power to act without expectation, and strive without being destroyed by failures.
But it doesn't really address that stuff happening around us; the life shit that is real and that we may be able to influence after all. In my not so humble opinion I find that many people embrace a singular narrative of progress where 'things happen for a reason.' I believe this thing, so if I do these things, then this should happen.
If it doesn't happen we feel like failures. If it does happen, we believe we are super geniuses and knew it all along. We rarely did. Randomness fills a lot of gaps in both the good and bad luck camp. But what if we reframed our own narratives to account for this? What if we said something like:
"This is likely a smart thing to do. It fixes problem X or creates opportunity Y. But who knows if it'll pay off. So I'm going to do it, and I'm also going to devote time to these five other options that may also fix problem X or create opportunity Y."
You may have heard the phrase that when a door closes a window opens. Nicely positive gibberish. But what if you had an active, weekly practice of opening all doors and windows. What if you took time to explore other avenues that weren't the single best, but that weren't so bad, so time consuming, so costly.
Options that might improve financial conditions, reduce relationship conflicts, improve important relationships, develop yourself, and any other pain point that may exist. Seek out a mentor. Sign up for a consultation or a class. Network with possible supporters. Say no to things that are taking up time without payoff. There is no single right way.
When faced with a lack of choices, where all doors seem closed, why not open...all of em. Ask for what you want. Stand up for what you believe you need. Give where you can. And take a sledgehammer to the the walls in front of you. Go over, under, around, and straight fucking through them.
Be weightless!
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