The Yin-Yang Dance
I started today a bit grumpy from work-related frustrations. While throwing myself a pity party, the part of my brain that doesn’t accept BS said in a not-so-subtle voice “but this is what you wanted. This is what you said you wanted to do right?”
Context: I work in a startup. I have always said I would rather work in startups than in established companies. My reasons,
I like to build stuff ( I love legos. I’m the one that will lie on the floor with an equipment manual and set the whole thing up or screw-on pieces of furniture )
I like a healthy dose of chaos because it keeps me on my toes and keeps things interesting (I get bored quickly. Ask my kids the number of times I have on a whim started rearranging the whole house, moving furniture et al just because I needed to freshen things up).
I love back stories(I want to be able to say, oh this is how things were, look at what it’s become) Finished products are not very interesting to me.
All these and many more are why I prefer the startup scene. So here I am, startup check. Very very fast-growing startup double check.
So what my wiser self was saying was this, you have gotten “your” startup in all its glory, but you are grumpy about dealing with the everyday realities of what it means to be a startup? I bet she was rolling her eyes all the way to the back of my brain at me.
A few days ago, I was having a conversation with one of my brothers, in that one conversation, I shared with him some fascinating news and also some serious issues I was having. He marvelled at how those things were happening at the same time. And I said that is the reality of life.
That is the yin-yang of life. Good things co-exist with the not-so-good. “Bad” things won't pause so that the “good” have had their turn and vice versa.
Eg Kids are a huge source of joy but at the same time, they can be expensive and stressful.
Marriage is beautiful and also not so beautiful.
A new job or promotion comes with its own “resident evils”
Life is a package deal. You can’t pick and choose. I have to live with it.
I guess this is the bedrock of the gratitude practice. The good is always there no matter how much of a rough time we are having in life, we are just not “seeing” it.
Our life experiences are a factor in what we choose to focus on, the yin or the yang.
I can report that I’m in a much better mood. I’m happy to deal with the headaches that come with a startup company because the upsides for me far outway the downs.
Keep going,
Ije