One thing I had written down was that I really hadn’t been doing much chi practice in terms of healing or alignment. I started to wonder why that was. I had been making lots of advances in this area and had really been exploring. And then I think I just got to a place where I had plateaued and didn’t really know where to go from there. My next thought was that maybe I don’t go anywhere. Maybe a plateau is a sign that I am supposed to settle in for a bit, right where I am. That I should just go with the basics for a while…let things marinate and just be in the moment. But if I stop pushing…stop reaching…if I settle in, isn’t that the start of mediocrity? Well….no. Not necessarily. The simple fact that I know where I am and what I am doing…and I am content and happy where I am and with what I am doing…is a sign that it isn’t mediocrity. In fact, if mediocrity were to sneak in, the moment I recognize it, it’s really no longer mediocrity...it’s opportunity. Sort of like the paradox that Sifu Brinker wrote about regarding effortless effort. Except when we recognize mediocrity, the path to mastery opens back up. Alternatively, when we claim effortless effort, we stumble off unknowingly towards mediocrity. In fact, it may not be a bad thing to just always assume I’m living in mediocrity.
I just realized this isn’t “sort of like” the paradox Sifu Brinker refers to. It’s the same one. I’ve just expanded on it a bit and am seeing it as a circle. A never ending cycle. And awareness, or lack there of, is what shifts us from one phase to the next.
My takeaways…..
Plateaus are good. They are a means to settle in and explore deeper.
Self awareness is essential.
Mediocrity is a necessary part of the process and we shouldn’t fear it. But we do need to learn to recognize it in order for it to be useful, rather than harmful.
Another fantastic diagram!
ReplyDeleteI love this! I struggle a bit when we talk about mediocracy and its too easy to take away from it that it is the evil in our lives. I tend to want to defend it to a point. But looking at it as a “necessary” or maybe unavoidable aspect of our journey makes a lot of sense to me. It’s about recognizing when we operate that way, because than we have the choice to address it!
ReplyDeleteMastery is just striving to do or be better, and sometimes that path needs us to stay where we are to better understand or to delve deeper. So plateaus, if utilized properly, are not mediocrity, but just a flatter part of the road. Expecting to always get or be given more without due attention to what we have- that’s mediocrity.
ReplyDeleteAnd the road should never truly be flat, it should have a gentle grade is all.
ReplyDelete