So much is rated today, from your Amazon purchase to your Uber ride, to your cruise when you disembark. Everyone wants a grade or rating. Well, except if you are a freshman at the University of Michigan, which announced this week that, starting next fall, the University plans to transition to a pass/fail for first semester freshman grades to minimize the mental stress many first year college students feel. Who would expect this from “The Leaders and the Best,” as the Hail to the Victors, school fight song lyrics state? Hum. Well, most everyone else wants a grade to know where they stand, how their business or employees compare to others in their field. A good rating means more more customers and most likely more of a bottom line. Competition is good and in my opinion, it makes things better for us all…
Since so much is graded and rated. How would you rate YOUR life, your “Human Experience” to date? I’m not talking about your professional work, your own business-although that is a portion of the Human Experience, how would you rate it over all, in taking a little assessment? Sometimes people do that on their birthday or at the beginning of the New Year, in early January, taking inventory of what one hopes to accomplishment or tasks to take on, like resolutions that sometimes get thrown out the window in the first few weeks…
The Greek Key pattern in the photo on the left. On the right the Pythagoras cup teaches a lesson of greed. Pour too much and one looses it all. Again, it’s all about balance.
The Greeks are known for a pretty decorative pattern called the Greek Key. Greek philosophers explained this (also known as meander or meandros ), made from a continuous line, folding at right angles, symbolizing, eternity, infinity, unity and the endless flow of life. It gets its name from the Meander River in Asia Minor. The sides of the Greek Key pattern are equal and represent balance, as in balance in life. The Greek philosophers really did hit the balance theme hard. Remember Pythagoras-as in the Pythagorean Theory in geometry-and the Pythagoras cup? It was a cup designed in ancient times to prevent from over indulging. If one filled the cup too full, it siphoned the cup to drain completely teaching a lesson of greed. Again, the theme of balance…
Isn’t that what most of us want in life, balance? The ancient philosophers got it right all of those years ago. We may have progressed with the Industrial Revolution, technologically, travel, medical advancements, exploration into outer space, and other realms of society, but the Human Experience is something we each have the opportunity to make unique to our own needs, we get to write our own story. That experience may be made up of a time to build a career, a family or a community. It may allow time to create personal endeavors. Philosophers felt that spiritual introspection and caring for the body were also pieces of the puzzle of the Human Experience. Thinking of all of components in your life, how would you rate yours? Is their balance? Balance in terms of meaningful work either in a career or voluntarily work, depending on where you find yourself in life. How about personal relationships and getting along with family both immediate and extended family? How is the enrichment portion of your life? Do your take time to read and learn? How about your physical well being? Do your tend to your body’s needs to care for it wisely so that it will carry your through your later years in good health? How about your spiritual life? How is your relationship with your creator? Not questions to answer for anyone but yourself? In looking at the “Pie of Life”, how is yours divided? Would your Greek Key pattern would it be a series of equal right angles or would it be out of balance?
At different times in our life, it might look unbalanced. Think of the young apprentice tradesman getting his or her training to build homes or their certification in plumbing or to become an electrician. They may work long hours to learn their craft. Or think of the medical student in the years of their residency working long hours for little money to learn to care for patients and get their training. Their lives may look out of balance with angles that aren’t even. But once out of the training, building a life, they can create the path they wish, if they are wise early on, pacing themselves physically, financially, personally and spiritually…
It’s never to late to take inventory and make changes to our experience as a human. We GET to live this life! Each day is a new day to start over and get it right or keep going when you DO get it right. Of course, we’ll have times our lives are a little out of balance here or there, but realizing that that is part of the flow of life and that a hiccup or hardship along the way can be a wake up call to reign in the necessities in life to get back on track. Life is like a river flowing or a long journey…
Take inventory, make changes where necessary and get back on the path of life for many Great Days Ahead in your Human Experience.
