The Conservation of Momentum: What Lies Beyond

I was just talking to a friend this morning about the ongoing paradox many of us live in.

How we spend a good deal of life grappling between the world as it is and the world as we believe it can be.

And how this yearning for hope and stretching toward possibility manifests itself in every area of life: in our homes, in our families, in our friendships, in our pet causes, in our jobs, in our relationships.

We track our own dissatisfaction as we build a case for moving toward more contentment.

Inside of that process, much of which happens internally and some of which leaks out externally (intentionally or not), there are days of heaviness.

Days of absolute frustration with today’s circumstances.
Days of disappointment with people who over-pressure, under resource, under support or under respect us in this twenty-four hour window.
Days of philosophical and sometimes relational upheaval where everything we expected falls apart in one day-to-night transition . . . and tomorrow, we wake up to something that is ghastly and new in ways we never anticipated.

Some of you may be there in that dark, heavy day, right now.

I just wanted to whisper something softly in the background of what you’re experiencing.

To remind you that in those moments where the world falls short, where you come to an impasse, where the game you were invited into abruptly changes or where commitments to you fall short, that deep inside those dark let-downs are strong and steady seeds of anticipation.

That you mourn what is being lost only because, in contrast, you have an important sense of knowing. Deep in your conscience, you know there is a better way.

You have vision that stretches beyond the tension in front of you: thoughts about how to improve systems, values about how people should be treated, resolve about what real commitment, shared ownership or permission-giving can be.

So I say to you…

Even if you are angry or bitter or frustrated, if you have a grasp on the hope that lies ahead, you have all you need.

The best thing I’ve ever found to do with frustrations like these is to dismantle the emotions fueling them.  And to channel myself into discovering and building what is buried inside them: the vision for what can be.

In the near future, I hope to share some of the rich turns my life has taken lately as I’ve sought to do that, but until then, I encourage you to cut the negative weights and let your mind and heart be carried away with the good momentum they release you to.

Sometimes the only way to conserve the momentum stirring in your life is profoundly simple: let go of what brings bad to you and move toward the good that calls you onward.