Talked to my friend Robin this week and we discussed the idea of conspiring circumstances. You know, the things in life and work that always seem to come up to mess up. It used to vex me, but it doesn’t any longer.
Some years ago, ironically, when I slaved in , I always saw circumstances as things that would eventually be eradicated (like polio or the black plague). But my naive leadership ways kept me from understanding the role circumstances play in this motion picture called life. Thankfully, I got older and wiser. I began to understand that it would be better to expect conspiring circumstances, than to be shocked by their appearances.
The key is expecting them-really. I’m not recommending paranoia or always looking over your shoulder. But I am recommending a retro-view of your life to discover what part circumstances have played in the scenes of life. Hopefully, you’re the better for the experience.
We’re so obsessed in our culture with being happy, being secure or arriving at some destination. If you hold onto those desires, you’ll be dismayed and sad when circumstances come on to thwart you. Listen, I’m not saying that you can’t be happy or secure. Just remember the seasonal nature of things.
- It should be a new paradigm where you accept that there will be times of unhappiness (which can actually lead to greater happiness).
- It should be a new paradigm that says security is best found in risk, not some idea that you can set up controls to make life safe.
- It should be a new paradigm that says the ride is infinitely more important than the destination. Focusing exclusively on the destination causes a missed life.
So the next time you get that promotion and the applause is uproarious, stop and remember how circumstances can, and always will, conspire as you make your way through.