Rhythm

“Soul gets lost when life can’t go on its rhythmic way, and soullessness is the ultimate cause of deep dissatisfaction.” – Thomas Moore

Finding a happy rhythm in my life is important to satisfying my soul. When my soul’s rhythm gets disrupted, I feel violated. Sure, I should be able to deal with routine changes—curves in the road—but the straightaways of living are more consistent with moving forward and require much less energy than steering and navigating twisting, bending terrain.

I know, I know, many say “change is good.”  Is it? I have to say yes and no. Yes, it is good when it has a meaningful direction, say steering a ship away from a crashing reef or correcting a course to successfully reach port. Nautical comparisons aside, these types of actions prevent disaster, disarray, and failures. Course corrections can return a person to the mission or journey they were sailing toward. Sorry, left in those nautical comparisons.

Now for the No. The “no” of change is the type of change for the sake of change. I call this another way of battling the boredom that some people have for the types of things that become somewhat routine. We have heard of “shake-ups” at places or “ breaking-up the routine” of tasks. These types of change can motivate and stimulate if they are presented with transparency and input. When it is dictated without any sense of the logical reason or proof (or danger) that a change of direction is needed, faith in that change often flounders and is difficult to embrace. I will listen all day to valid reasons and evidence when given the chance because I want great finishes and successful ends to my efforts as much as anyone. But let me be a part of the conversation for Pete’s sake.

So here is where the soul becomes a tricky entity concerning change and supporting a persons healthy rhythm. Every person is different, not identical parts on an assembly line. In this comparison, you can’t shut the line down, re-tool and start-up assembly again producing a new, different or refined product. The soul is what goes into the creation and it is a very delicate blend of love, faith, hope, dreams, compassion, purpose, devotion, empathy, joy, and good humor.  For the soul to be creative—which by the way, creativeness most always leads to change—it needs to be rhythmically mentored and it is not always the fastest approach that works. “People don’t resist change,’ said Dean Ornish, “they resist being changed.”

Resistance by definition, is a body’s ability to fight hurtful and harmful things. It takes time for me to lower my natural resistance and to embrace and accept change. And with time, even the deepest dissatisfaction may fade.