After Dark

After Dark

Man Shot After Leaving Club Cheetah
CORPUS CHRISTI- A man was rushed to the hospital after being shot several times overnight. Corpus Christi police say a man and his son were leaving Club Cheetah in the 6400 block of S.P.I.D. just after 2:00 a.m. Tuesday morning, when they got into an argument with a group of men. The 52-year-old man and his 32-year-old son left the club, but moments later a dark-colored SUV pulled up beside them ...
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We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want. -- Tao Te Ching

2009 rushed into 2010. After a fun trip to Boston for the holidays, I found myself exhausted and a bit depressed. "Why?" I asked. I had a phenomenal 2009: accomplished most of my goals, in a wonderful relationship, living a purposeful life, yet I was not feeling it completely. "What is going on?"

Over the years, I have learned to ride the tide of my rhythms. So I let myself crash, sleep, slow down, and feel... I let myself go. When I finally come out the other side, I feel an incredible surge of creativity and see a much wider and refreshing horizon. "Wow!" I say to myself. "This is amazing!"

I always believe my body is pretty intelligent. It often tells me things that my mind has missed. This time it was telling me that there is a "forest" beyond the "tree" if I only allow myself the time and space to feel it and see it.

In business, we are trained to set goals and achieve them. And that was what I had been focusing on. I focused on making the pot, but I forgot it is the emptiness inside that holds what I want. Yes, I achieved my goals, but I forgot to play and have fun with the creative process. No wonder I was not feeling complete and whole.

In yoga, I am taught to unify the ying and yang – the feminine and the masculine energies. It is the unity of the light and the dark, the positive and the negative charges that underline the brilliant intelligence of the universe. This is true in our business life as well. How can we unify these apposing energies that hold our infinite capacity for creativity and joy? Reflecting on my own experience, I find it helpful to incorporate several paradoxical ideas into my life:

The dark: We all have a dark side. Freud called it the unconscious. It contains a deep reservoir of intelligence and creativity way beyond the grasp of our conscious mind. Highly creative people usually are well versed with the languages of their dark sides. Most of us tap into only a tiny portion of it. Often we are afraid of letting those unconscious thoughts surface into our conscious mind, for the fear of believing them to be our reality. So they remain in the basement. If we learn to relax our gatekeeper a bit, we may get comfortable with the idea of inviting them out for a couple of tea, and having an interesting conversation. Given practice, you'll be amazed how much creativity and insights flow from that deep well.

The lazy: There is a natural rhythm to everything in the universe. When we get too caught up in achieving our goals, we may ignore it and fight it, which may lead to stress and frustration. Sometimes it is healthy to simply be. Do nothing, and let our well be replenished and rejuvenated.

The different: Most of time we are on autopilot. We form habits for mundane tasks so that we can have freedom to focus on the more complex problems we want to solve. This is extremely helpful, especially when our habits are healthy ones. Another paradox: I find it useful to deliberately break my patterns from time to time. Try something new, go to a new place, or do the same thing a different way. It may give you new perspectives and stimulate new muscles you have not yet developed.

The whole: Navigating in life is like sailing on the ocean. If we only stare at the view 20 feet in front of us, we may completely miss our horizon. It is important to focus on our immediate goals and activities. And it is also very important to look up and around once a while. What we see and how we see it is often a result of where we stand. When we change our angle of perspective, we may see a quite different picture.

In his book "A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age," Daniel Pink predicts that the Conceptual Age (led by people who use both sides of their brains) will be the next revolution following the Industrial Age (led by people who use primarily their left brains). I agree with his theory. Our world is undergoing some major changes, which demand that we change and adapt as well. According to Darwin, it is not the strongest, nor the most intelligent species that survive, it is the most adaptable.

Surely we can consciously adapt and prepare ourselves for the changes ahead.

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