Ka'ena Point / Shot on 35mm / Wish I could remember camera…
As I rapidly approach the 8th week of my new job and have had some time to work with our team, a question came up about reading situations and seeing the bigger picture. As my colleague and I explored this, I made a comment about knowing your edges and she asked what I meant by that.
Great question!
What is an edge?
I believe the edge in this case has to do with having a deeper understanding of who we are, what we are, why we are, how we are, so when we are different situations, we can be intentional in how we live and operate.
Much easier said than done (or what I am considering to rename this substack unless jmaw is much easier said than actualizing, which could also be very true).
I took a leadership course many, many, many years back and the idea of responding to what arises in life stuck with me. To be responsive implied to me how important it was to live intentionally, period.
Upon much reflection and having lived more life, I’ve come to see that not all forms of reaction are terrible.
We will inevitably react and in some cases, we have to. In martial arts and other high pressure training situations, we are trained to react to most probabilities. Those are unique because the training and practice to react when in need to do is intentional in its focus.
This same type of practice can be done to train our body to breathe and to recognize when we start to feel the effects of stress or fight or flight. In some ways, that’s where a combination of doing the work before, and reminding ourselves to be responsive, walk hand-in-hand.
The type of reaction that can be harmful more are the reactions we make when:
Being caught off guard and rushing to make a decision
If the ego feels threatened and a person says something without thinking
It could also be interpreting what another is saying emotionally and taking it personal.
I think that last example is pretty common and I have seen it unfold for myself in times where I was under great stress and feeling pressure. Over the years, I’ve
The uniqueness of the pandemic and the changes to our life might have increased some of that in a way.
People were already overworked and under pressure before the past few years. Much has been said about rebirth and the joys of working from home, in bed, in sweats or yoga pants, but I’ve also seen the opposite.
Because of how this accelerated our need to be wired in, there is no longer a time where you clock out unless you set the boundaries for yourself. I adopted the I won’t check email on my phone by not having it installed on my apps mentality years ahead of the pandemic for my own sanity. But I’ve not been able to kick the feeling that I must reply to a notification if I read it, no matter the day or time.
There’s beauty in there though and it’s not so much the work we do as a profession, but the work we do on ourselves. Soul practice that Inner Work to prepare for life changes and situations where we have to adapt.
Reacting in ways we may have been trained to in the right situations can work but remember that it’s also important to pause so that we can respond. Sometimes the pause might be just a few moments to take a deep breath and calm nerves, settle adrenaline, but those few moments could be truly impactful and save a great deal of miscommunication and subsequent stress.
Soul enjoy.