In my years of both health and life coaching, I have observed that it is a common desire for people to just want life to go smoothly. If someone is having struggles or complications with some aspect of their health, they just want to get better. If there is discord or problems in a relationship, we just want it to go smoothly. Ideally we want family, friends, work and life in general to simply move along without major problems. Is that really too much to ask?
When we speak of things rolling along with no upsets or disappointments, I picture a straight line, just stretching far out in front of us - just straight - in total creamy, dreamy perfection.
Do you know what they call those lines in a hospital? Death. Straight lines represent death. No more ups and downs on the EKG. No more life.
I wonder if the familiar EKG reading is a commentary on life? Sure, we have times when things unfold easily, sometimes effortlessly, but sometimes there are ups (Yay! They offered me a position in their company! or Woohoo, Hawaii here I come!) but there are also the downs. Your child was disciplined yet again at school and the administration is requesting a conference. Something funky is going on in your romantic relationship and you don’t know what it is, but that closeness isn’t feeling too close. The downs.
But just like with an EKG reading, nothing lasts forever. The ups don’t last, and neither do the downs. We get back to that place of equanimity and peaceful well-being. Of course life doesn’t unfold as predictably and evenly as a healthy person’s EKG, but there is a flow to it, and when we can release the resistance to the downs and the ups, the ride overall becomes much more enjoyable. It gives flavor and appreciation to life. After all, who appreciates a good check-up more than someone who’s been ill? Who appreciates family harmony more than someone who has endured family trauma? Who appreciates financial abundance more than one who has struggled and failed to pay all her bills?
When we can be in flow with life - conscious, grateful, and allowing - we see, feel, and appreciate the moments of life as they present themselves. I’ll take that over a flat line any day.