Any conversation around anything new in our lives can be aspirational or threatening. For those who are starting a new job, moving into a new house, recently got engaged, or just bought a new car, they can tell of story about the good things that are going to happen in the near future.
For those who were just diagnosed with an illness, or a loved one who is failing, or a large customer who leaves your business for a younger company that does what you do but in a very different way that does not make a lot of sense to you, or an organization you have known forever that is beginning to focus in a new direction share a story of fear and of being threatened.
New in our lives is double edged. We can’t focus when we are fearful or threatened. We can’t be objective or see clearly when we are too aspirational. It’s never easy riding either wave.
When we are fearful we focus on why things will fail. When we are aspirational we boast about how things will work in a better way. When we are fearful we have little hope because we always think the worst. When we are aspirational we have little chance to tell ourselves a story of anything bad entering our lives because it feels so good where we are right now.
It’s the old story of the pessimist and the optimist. What is hard for us to do is to use them in the opposite situation. Becoming the optimist when we are threatened by unwanted change gives us the opportunity for hope. Hearing the quiet voice of pessimism when everything feels so good is to provide perspective and humility for us to stay balanced.
Life is such a challenge. At levels that we sadly, many times, don’t notice. Available to each of us, one minute at a time for us to both enjoy as well as navigate.