So much of our lives is the everyday things. It's about getting from A to B and then to C, and maybe whether we change paths, switch directions. Maybe our step D is different from what it was last year, but it's still the next step. We're moving forward in our day to day lives. We study and go to class to get a degree. We hustle on our bikes or jog in the mist to catch the bus or make it to our car to get to our job so that we can pay our bills. We pick meals that are either cheap or healthy or fast, sometimes a combination (if we're lucky) to fit our needs at the time. We go on dates, we have fun, we have relationships, and sometimes they come to an end for one reason or another. But we're continually moving forward.
Sometimes we get philosophical about this progress. That we are learning and growing from each and every experience, and sometimes we feel oddly present, awake, during everyday tasks. And sometimes, it's just the hustle and bustle and the everyday grind just passes unnoticed. But what if even some of these small A to B "stuff" is part of something bigger. Every thing we do is influenced by our inner-selves (in one way or another). I mean after all, a majority of the time we have some type of reasoning behind our actions. It's the deeply rooted reasons we should look into as well.
Regardless, most often we think of this passing of time, this movement forward as linear, forever moving onward off into the future of the unknown. However, a couple years ago someone introduced a theory to me called the spiral effect. To put it at its most basic form, the path of life is like a funnel shaped spiral. We move through life in forward, circular motions. Our everyday routine is part of this cycle, but so are the bigger issues in our life, too. We might face a problem when we're little, only to have that same issue arise when we're 13, and again at 16, and and again and again. At first they're easy to manage. But as we grow and get stronger with each solution, the next time we encounter a problem we're more equipped to deal with it. We may or may not recognize the similarity in the issues, but if we do, our next step to ask why. Why are we encountering the same problems? How are we learning from these instances? What are we learning about the world around us and ourselves?
You might face the same lesson masked by different problems because you've yet to learn the lesson, you've yet to figure out the why. So often we are caught up in the motions of everyday life without looking into ourselves, into the world we live. So focus on yourself a bit. How do your actions affect yourself, those around you, and the world at large. And vice versa.
Life is full of challenges of both the extraordinary and the mundane variety. Extract as much as you can from everything you experience. Take a step back and reflect on yourself a bit. Appreciate yourself and how far you've come, how much you've overcome. All the strength you possess to have faced the challenges you have is a lot, even more when you think back to how much you've grown. Embrace that strength and that strive for knowledge and encourage yourself to grow more.
