Pushing the Rock
When I was in high school I had a mentor tell me about the Myth of Sisyphus. To summarize, Sisyphus upset the Gods, and his consequence was to push a boulder up a mountain, once he reached the top the boulder would roll to the bottom of the mountain, waiting for him to push it up the mountain. He was sentenced to do this for eternity. My takeaway is that all humans are Sisyphus, and life is that fucking rock. Some people decide to lay down and stop pushing. Some people take breaks but continue to push the rock, and some people continue to push the rock without wavering. Life does not have a finish line. Striving to be the best version of yourself does not have a finish line. This goes for any skill set or tool in life. Whether it is being good at your job, being a good parent, or just being a good human, there is no finish line.
Pushing the rock and trusting the process go hand in hand. Pushing the rock is the action that shows you trust the process, it is the action of executing the process you’ve put in place everyday day in and day out. One of the most important goals of mine these past couple years has been to conquer my ADD and OCD. The combination of the two seem to be a good recipe for anxiety, stemming from a spectrum of all sorts of stimuli. It became overwhelming to the point where I had to find some solutions. The process or solutions that seemed to work for me was the combination of walking, meditation, and writing on a daily basis. Walking is helpful because sometimes just moving around for a little while can relieve the tension within myself that seems to be a symptom of my anxiety. Meditation has helped me gain control over the thoughts that run through my head, which seems to be a symptom of the combination of my ADD and OCD. Writing gives my mind an opportunity to organize the clutter of racing thoughts, gives my mind an outlet for creativity, and assists me in working through problems or decisions. I push the rock by investing time everyday into my process because I believe it will get me one inch closer to my equilibrium.
I encourage you to find one area of your life where you can push the rock more consistently. This could be who you are as friend, or who you are at work, but just focus on one area. Put a process in place that includes a couple of habits or activities that will inch you closer to your equilibrium in that area, and push that fucking rock. You will have days where the rock is heaver than usual, but push with what you have that day, that’s all you can control.
With Love,
Luke
