hang ten

I’d be lying to you if I told you that your Pursuit would be a constant state of progress, always operating in a flow state.

There will be ebbs and flows. And they probably won’t follow a regular schedule (although I’ve barely touched some writings on astrology that suggest you might be able to have an idea when progress might change–but I haven’t gone down that rabbit hole yet, and am not sure when/if I will).

For me, I usually feel the ebb coming on with my energy—specifically, my creative energy. When the creative ideas slow down, I know it’s time to avoid forcing anything and to make sure I get some additional rest…that rest could be more sleep, a power nap here and there (these are the best, BTW), more meditation, or just relaxing and not doing as much. During the ebb, it’s time to re-energize because, on the other side is a flow, and I want to make sure I’m able to fully maximize it when it arrives.

This morning, I woke up and immediately could tell I was in an ebb. I didn’t know it was going to be last night as the creativity was flowing last evening, but today, I felt creatively drained. Not only was my creativity drained, but I slept later in the morning than my usual wake-up time; my body told me it needed a little more physical rest.

The way I think about it is the ebb and flow of your Pursuit will be like surfing; while I’ve never caught a wave, I’ve given it my all the few times I’ve tried surfing. For a newbie, it’s physically exhausting paddling out through the waves to get to the spot where you can sit and wait for the waves. Once you find the calmer waters you know it’s time to sit up, rest and recover, and keep your eyes out on the ocean to look for the next good wave. And after patiently waiting, when the next good wave comes, you give it your all to maximize that ride and hang on to it as long as possible, or so I imagine that’s what you do when you stand up on a wave.

Embrace the ebbs when they come; you might not enjoy the feeling of not making progress, but trust the next flow is coming and take advantage of the opportunity to rest, process the progress that was just made, think about what's next, and get ready to take advantage of the flow when it comes.

So right now, I’m sitting on my surfboard.

Resting. Recovering. Enjoying the view. And keeping my eyes out for the next great creative wave to come my way.

And then…it’s hang ten!

See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,

JC