Spiraling Into Control

It’s the circle of life and it moves us all

through despair and hope, through faith and love

till we find our place on the path unwinding.

- Disney’s The Lion King[i]

           

I love Disney’s The Lion King, and most of us understand the concept of the circle of life.  There’s that moment when Mufasa tells Simba we become the grass and the antelope eat the grass, and so we are all part of the circle of life.  Most of us are accustomed to a view of life that looks like this:

You’re born, you pay taxes, and you die!  Okay, there may be a little more to life than that!  But life is not a circle.  In fact, it’s the path unwinding:

Life is a spiral.  The above image can represent a lifetime, a decade, a year, a month, a day, an hour, a minute or even a moment.  We may view every day as a circle.  Most people view Monday through Friday as pretty much the same day.  They believe they are going through the same motions every day. That is their lot in life.  It’s not a lot, but it’s a life, right?  Wrong!  While Monday through Friday may seem very similar, every day is different and offers opportunities to embrace and learn new lessons.  No two days will be exactly the same, ever!  A spiral is still circular but it implies progression, and each day, while similar, is also very different in the events that transpire and the lessons that each day teaches those who are willing to Shift their perspective.  But most people don't see spirals.  They see circles.

            Most people spend seventy percent of their existence working a job they are not passionate about.  The most often heard refrain at the end of the week around the water cooler is, “TGIF!”  Thank God it’s Friday!  How often do we hear, “TGIM”? Thank God it’s Monday!  I’m guessing you probably haven’t heard that refrain because the truth is most people are going to a job they don’t enjoy just because they have to pay the bills, right?  Wrong!  They don’t have to pay the bills!  They do not have to do anything.  Whether we recognize it or not, we choose to go to our job.  We choose to pay the bills.  We choose our life!

            The irony is that living life as a circle is, yes, predictable and probably safe and secure, but it is also not only unfulfilling, it's a life you don't control.  When you live the circle you can stop choosing, making decisions, and rely on the "That's just the way it is" mentality (Of course, this really is still a choice; don't kid yourself).  But there's a different way.  The truth is that we spiral into control.  We decide to intentionally live the transformed life of our dream by embracing each moment as an opportunity to grow one step closer to who we are and why we are.

            What if instead of a job just going through the motions, every day you used your unique combination of strengths, gifts, and talents within and lived each day fully, living and giving who you are to humanity and the world?  And what if, by doing so, your job was transformed into your calling?

Soren Kierkegaard said I must find a truth to live and die for.  We hear a lot about what people are willing to die for: family, friends, country, the list goes on and on.  But we don’t hear many people talk about what they are willing to live for.  It seems most of humanity is consumed with death, one brief moment in a lifetime, instead of the myriad of moments of life we have the opportunity to embrace adventurously.  And it seems like many people use all those myriad of moments of life to focus on avoiding death.

In fact, many people seem to define life based on longevity, on quantity and not quality.  But is a long life necessarily a fulfilling life?  Shouldn’t life be defined as more than having a pulse and breathing in and out?  Isn’t true life living your calling every moment of every day?  Shouldn’t the refrain we hear rolling off our tongues every morning as our feet hit the floor be, “TGIT!  Thank God it’s today”?

           What if we lived every day fulfilling our Dream, taking and using every opportunity to serve us to live the Dream we were made to bring to this world and the people in it?  What kind of a transformational life would that be?  And what if more people in the world were doing that?  What kind of a world would we inhabit?  Can you imagine?  Are you up for the challenge?

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[i] Zimmer, Hans. Various Artists.  The Lion King: Special Edition.  Walt Disney Records, 2003. CD.