Many years ago, I was cycling across the East coast. With all my belongings on the bike, I set out to explore. I had trained for this trip. Eighty kilometers of cycling everyday for months. I had searched and bought all the required gear for this trip. My training was psychological and physical, but as I travelled I learned there are some things that you can never really train for.
As I set out from New York City, the jungle of skyscrapers of Manhattan faded like a mirage. I was finally out for the adventure that took a lifetime of planning and preparation. As I cycled I saw people and landscape changing, slightly, every mile I went further. On the other hand, my beliefs, thoughts and emotions, the colored lens by which I saw world remained the same. And thus, reflection of reality on the mirror of my heart changed every bit as I cycled. My journey inside was greater then the one outside.
As I balanced the thin rope of changing circumstances, I learned to operate in a heightened state of awareness. A constant sense of caution that had engulfed our primitive ancestors of ambush. Any predator could at any time of day or night attack and take away what was gathered in so many years. There was no room for error. The smallest of mistakes could result in fatality. I carried on.
I couldn’t always find the things I looked for. Times I had to cycle for hours on empty stomach. Times, I had to sleep in the middle of nowhere – no human population for tens of miles. At times, I couldn’t stop cycling. I had to analyze the environment before taking a break. Nothing could be left to chance. Sometimes, my cycle would hit a bump or another form of obstruction and I fell. Before I felt the pain falling on carpeted road, I would have to look around.
The environment however was unforgiving. It never expressed mercy. It was emotionless, impersonal. Never was it is about me. The environment played with tools of extreme weather and difficult terrain. As man considers himself the centre of his world, my heart always translated the events outside as personal. Targeted.
All throughout my expedition, I only intended success. To be able, one day, to cherish over my great accomplishment. As I reach the end of my road, I saw the changing events had lead me to a new plateau of perception. The fast changing circumstances of my cycling trip had imprinted on my heart such a vast treasure trove of experience that it had transformed me. The very DNA of my character was changed.
Many years later, I look back and analyze the occurrences of the past. The life, each and every one of us lives daily are littered with similar changes. Changes that try to off-set our much needed balance. We crave for stable environments because in stability we, as humans, find security. This is reason we accumulate resources when don’t really need them. This is the reason why we emotionally attach our selves to things.
This article is all about recalibrating through turbulent times. Managing ourselves under the stress of external unwanted stimuli. The stimulus that tries to make us lose our direction. The one that we should always be on the look out for.
The Flux Of Life
In the ever changing circumstance of life, we are bombarded with external stimuli, some favorable but many unfavorable. As humans we must navigate the boat of life with the utmost care in order to reach our El Dorado, the promised land. For this everyone must develop a strategy that suits their environment and their personality that excels them forward in the desired direction.
Let me introduce you to one such mental exercise.
I call it the ‘Recalibrating Routine’.
In every scenario, we have point A – the place where we currently are. And point B – where we desire to be, the promised land.
To get from point A to point B one must master the thoughts of the mind. One must always with fail be goal oriented, no matter what the circumstance. And this can accomplished by practicing the Recalibrating Routine.
What is the Recalibrating Routine?
This is probably one of the simplest exercised to adjust your compass every time a storm tries to wreck your ship. It is also a very natural process that many of us unknowingly do. Whenever you feel overwhelmed by negative emotion – be it lack of money, relationships or health. Just take a deep breathe and imagine.
For example, when you feel pain in your body say ‘one day I will have absolute health’. Or if you feel lonely say to yourself ‘one day I will have abundant and fulfilling relationships‘. This minimum effort on your part will have last changes on your energy signature. What you expressing to the universe is positivity in the experience of the lack of it. Continue these one day sentences for a couple of minutes. Close your eyes if you have to.
As you continue to pivot your thoughts to the other end of the spectrum, you will attract desired thoughts, emotions and eventually circumstances. They will undoubtedly propel you towards your desire of health and happiness. Circumstances are opportunities for you to grab at your will.