THE ETERNAL WELL
REDISCOVER YOUR CORE WELLBEING
2-Minute Read
It’s been said that when asked how he made The David, Michelangelo replied, “I didn’t. He was already inside. I just carved away everything that was not David.”
In normal conversation, wellbeing is considered to be a temporary state. It’s something that, through choice, action, and circumstance, can be gained or lost. You can make yourself well; you can make yourself unwell.
What if wellbeing doesn’t work that way? What if being well is as constant as being human?
In this week’s issue of The Grip, we flip the script on the conventional view of wellbeing: rather than an ever-changing temporary quality, we explore the possibility that wellbeing is who you already fundamentally are, and as such, has been in you and with you all along.
This issue is intentionally experiential, designed to help you see something new for the quality of your life and service through the lens of “who you are is well.”
EXPERIENTIAL THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS
Rather than explain or argue that wellbeing is who you are, I invite you into two thought experiments designed to use language as a lens or filter through which you can discover something new for wellness in your life.
TRYING ON WELLBEING
Read through the following questions. Try each one on like you would try on new clothes at the store or test drive a new car at the dealership. No need to agree with or believe the questions. And no need to answer them. Look through the questions (like a lens) at any area of your life where you want to create something new. Then consider: What’s possible for me from this perspective?
What if I’m already well, and always have been?
What if I’m complete and whole with nothing missing?
What if everything I’ve identified as being wrong with me is just familiar thoughts, perceptions, and stories cutting off access to my wellbeing?
What if my natural state as human is well?
What if wellbeing resides in a separate domain from—and cannot be altered by—circumstance?
What if my wellness is just as constant and enduring as my humanness?
What if wellbeing is not something to be attained but something to be accessed?
Next, I’d like you to think about an area of your life where you have been struggling. Keep this struggle in mind as you read through the questions again. This time, look through the questions (like looking through a lens) to that area of struggle. Then consider: What do I notice about the struggle now? What’s possible for me from this altered perspective?
PLAYING WITH THE HOUSE’S MONEY
The following is a metaphor created by the incredible coach, Michael Neill, in his book, Inside Out Revolution. I have paraphrased it in my own words, but the metaphor is his. Again, use it as a lens through which to discover a new possibility for your life. This one is particularly helpful if you are struggling with fear, worry, anxiety or stress.
As with the previous experiment, use this metaphor as a lens through which to discover a new possibility for your life. This one is particularly helpful if you are struggling with fear, worry, anxiety or stress.
Imagine I hire you to work at my casino for $500 a night. You are outgoing and good-looking, and your job is to have a great time gambling with the house’s money. You’ll be given $10,000 in chips each night. No matter how much you win, you will receive $500 at the end of the night. No matter how much you lose, you will receive $500 at the end of the night.
What do you think your moment-by-moment experience would be with each bet you place?
What kind of risk would you take?
How safe would you play?
How would you experience winning? How about losing?
What would it be like to keep playing after a big loss? After a big win?
Consider this: The casino owner is Life. Life has hired you to have a great time playing its game with the resources it provides you and will pay you a salary in the form of wellbeing. The wins and losses you generate with Life’s resources are the temporary circumstances that ebb and flow for as long as you stay in the game; they have no impact on your salary. Your salary doesn’t increase when you win, and it doesn’t decrease when you lose. It is guaranteed regardless of what happens to Life’s resources as you play.
What do you notice about your life and wellbeing through the lens that you’re playing with the house’s money?
“What if my wellness is just as constant and enduring as my humanness?”
As you work with these thought experiments and try on the new possibilities they generate for you, consider two final questions:
What if, like Michelangelo’s The David, your wellbeing is not something to be made but something already inside waiting to be expressed?
What would it mean for you to let go of everything that is not wellbeing to access the wellbeing that’s inherently present in who you are?
Keep creating!
May you prosper in every way!
Becky & TPL Team
52 Maxims of Conscious Choosing To Create the Deeply Satisfying Life You Desire.