Ups and downs are an inevitable part of life. Without them, life may be unchallenged and boring. Another funny thing that life does is to hide opportunities behind grave obstacles which must be surmounted to reap from those opportunities.
There is a popular saying that happiness is a measure of ups and downs. This simply means that anything achieved very easily is not valued.
How Life Hides Opportunities Behind Ups And Downs
Imagine a situation where someone is interested in being a website designer. He acquires the necessary knowledge which wasn’t easy to achieve because of money, time and energy. He engages in his first practical experience in designing a website, does it and submits, and the client is thoroughly dissatisfied and refuses to pay.
Our website designer is distraught and disappointed. He wonders why he should always have obstacles to any of his endeavours which other people achieve easily. He thinks of giving up but decides to give just one more try.
He decides to seek advice from a more experienced person who introduces him to a better and easier to use software. He is delighted and does a revision of the earlier design and submits. The client is delighted and wonders why he didn’t do this all along. He pays our website designer, and he is very happy.
The question now is, if our website designer didn’t suffer rejection, would he have bothered to improve his knowledge and skills? The answer is a big no! Secondly, if he goes ahead to find more innovative ways of using the software and becomes a webmaster, would he have discovered the more opportunities available for him, would he have experienced his great moment (his ups) without the challenges? Another big no!
We finally find out that ups and downs are a sure way of challenging us to discover our hidden talents, abilities and potentials and so be able to live a life of our dreams.
HOW TO CREATE A HEALTHY BALANCE BETWEEN UPS AND DOWNS
Life throws both good and bad things at everyone. However, the happiest people are those who can create a healthy balance between the two situations with equanimity.
The state of equanimity is described as a mental state that is oriented on calmness and perseverance. It is a middle point being states of good or ‘ups’, and states of bad or ‘downs’. It is to be applied to all aspects of human endeavors.
The underlying mindset for equanimity is simply to understand that both good thing and bad things don’t last forever. No condition is permanent and after the rain comes sunshine.
We must understand that everything about us, be it emotions, goals, dreams, aspirations, relationships, and the means of managing them are in constant flux. We must understand that both good and bad times don’t define us, they are simply a part of the greater picture.
The good times are meant to be enjoyed while the bad times are to be accepted, thought over and maneuvered to become good. Achievers understand that opportunities come with obstacles, just as beautiful rose flowers come with thorns, and they are comfortable either way.
