Tag Archives: wave the white flag

Balance Beam

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One foot in front of the other. Arms steady at the sides. Measured breaths. Prioritized focus. The courage not to fall into the familiar.

Are the toil and tax needed to maintain a modicum of balance worth the spoils gained? Is it better to stumble of our own accord than feel the stings and shoves of familiar foes? Can courage and careful planning stave off the inevitable slide? What’s waiting on the ground to cushion that collapse?

We are in the midst of an elusive, slippery chase to level the playing field while the referees are busy rewriting all the rules. Absent of regular water breaks or rest, we continue to trudge up a mountain of optimistic possibility, burdened by weighty shoulder sacks heavy with hope but empty of real results.

When will white flags be flung? When will the cramps and sore muscles force us to abandon our quest for equilibrium? The straw has been accumulating on this camel’s back for generations and there’s only so much he can carry.

But what’s the alternative? Acceptance of constant misalignment? Feeble acquiescence and shoulder shrugging? Downcast defeatism?

I think we’re better than that, and nothing of any historical consequence was accomplished by abandoning the fight or vacating the arena.

So strap up, strap in, and tighten your resolution. Some seconds are still left on the clock before that buzzer signals the end of the trial.

Balance is infectious and attractive. The more we cultivate internal peace, the greater our ability to spread its merits on a global level.

Time to get back to climbing. The mountain is waiting.

Adolescence Interrupted

Listening for the Unreturned Echo

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“Sometimes the world seems like a big hole. You spend all your life shouting down it and all you hear are echoes of some idiot yelling nonsense down a hole.”      -Adam Duritz

I double-checked the address. The flap was sealed without a crease. A Forever stamp was cleanly tucked into the corner.  I watched the mail carrier slide it into his satchel. An irrefutable delivery confirmation teased the idea of progress. So why am I left staring at empty inboxes? How can every call made to the universe go unanswered? Why should a desire to bring positive change be met with such opposition?

Recently, I was discussing the sensation of life in LA with some friends. I used the metaphor of a series of tall concrete walls. Placed strategically in a circle with just enough space between them to present the false illusion of freedom, the only way to escape the enclosure is to sprint, at full velocity, directly into the unbending slab. You crash, stand up, shake the dust from your shirt, and then speed head first into the next one. Being an isolated idea maker isn’t a job for the faint-hearted.

In your mind, you believe it’s tenacity and the will to succeed. You subscribe to all the theories that recommend attacking a problem from a unique angle, never doing things the same way and expecting a different result, keeping your nose to the grindstone, etc. There is an addictive false sense of forward momentum, simply because one foot is traveling in front of the other. But racing on the surface of quicksand will only bring you so far. Like dancing in the open jaw of an alligator, execution ultimately falls short of strategy.

So, is the answer to stop trying? Should you simply refuse to acknowledge the impetus to help others through your work? Do you chalk up years of tireless toil to one giant strikeout? After innumerable swings and countless misses, do you throw the bat to the ground, shake your head, and wave that white flag?

No. Not now. Not ever.

Adolescence Interrupted