Reflection takes a certain amount of brain space and with
half term and work there doesn’t seem to have been much recently. The change in
daylight hours also makes such a big difference to my energy levels. Getting up
early feels like the middle of the night and by the time I leave the office –
not late by many standards – it’s pitch black again. I could have a herd of
elephants living in my garden and I wouldn’t know about it until the weekend! I
yearn for longer days to restore this balance and we are not even at the
shortest day yet. On the plus side the autumn colours are amazing and a brief
glimpse of the trees is enough to nourish the soul from day to day.
Alongside the closing of the year we have the most
unexpected of political situations both sides of the Atlantic which is creating
all kinds of uncertainty. Brexit was one call to arms from a UK population
dissatisfied with Big Government policy which has the apparent effect of
creating an ever increasing divide between those that have and those that have
not. The US have gone one further though and elected an openly non-inclusive
billionaire who’s never held political office in his life and has zero
experience in running a government. It’s ironic that people have voted for
Trump for greater equality when he appears to have a history of the complete
opposite, whether it be financial or ethical.
While I could angst about what this will mean for me, my job
and the future of my kids I can’t see the point of wasting all that energy. The
simple fact is that we, the people, have voted for change and that’s what we
will get. It might not be the change we wanted or expected, but it will be
different. Change does have its benefits of course. Any change, like the
seasons, brings a sense of new opportunity. The trick is knowing how to use
that opportunity to make life a little better. That obviously also requires you
to have thought about what ‘better’ means – it might not mean more money or
responsibility but the opposite.
Amongst the uncertainty come interesting discussions as to
when is enough – at what point can you set yourself free from the treadmill to
do something you are really passionate about? Making a conscious decision to
change and take a different level of risk is really hard to do, but how often
do we hear about people who’ve done just that and grown significantly as a
result of the experiences they’ve then had? The challenge is that we have
families, mortgages, school fees, teams and so on to consider. Long gone are
days when a decision was just about me. I now know what my mother meant when
she said my school days would be the only time in my life I could be truly
selfish!
Whether you take a big risk or a small one the risk of
taking no risk is considerable. I met a lady earlier this year who admitted
that she’d become increasingly anxious about taking any risk, and as she
retreated further into her comfort zone it got smaller and smaller until she
was scared to do anything new. Conversely I read the dust sheet of a new book
I’m about to start about a lady who threw in a successful city job to row
across various oceans singlehandedly, setting all kinds of records along the
way. How she made her decision to go was fascinating – she wrote 2 obituaries –
one where she stayed put and one where she didn’t, and then looked at which
she’d prefer to have written about her when she was gone.
Both these women are extreme examples but they illustrate
the point that risk taking can be good for you in respect of personal growth.
I’m a great believer in doing new things in order to grow – so far its worked
out ok… Its why I’ll never be truly wealthy, but I’ll be rich in experience and
have more stories to tell when I can no longer get out and create new ones.
