Daddy Space ~ Lesson from a Tree

Welcome back Patrick who shares some daddy space with us today. We celebrate our 18th shared birthday together tomorrow. This picture is from a magical space in Washington when I was 22 and Patrick was 25.

 

You need balance.

Unfortunately the substance of life does not have a unit of measure.  It cannot be dished out in even scoops.

Balance is hard but without it your life will tip over.

You also need passion.

The surest way to live an unfulfilled life is to live a life devoid of passion.  

It is difficult for passion and balance to exist together, in harmony.  Passion is an imbalanced drive, desire toward a person, object or goal.  Passion is single-mindedness.   

Balance and Passion.  Yin and Yang.  Passion is the trunk, branches and leaves of the tree. Balance the root system below, that no one sees, keeping the tree firmly grounded.  Both vital to the survival of the tree.  As the trunk thickens and more and more sun gathering leaves sprout, so does the tree extend its roots to support that new growth.

How can both Passion and Balance exist in your life?

One of my mentors, Dave Tate, coined the co-existence of these life forces, Blast and Dust.  As a powerlifter and entrepreneur Blast mode was always a competition cycle or product launch away.  A total and all out focus on the goal.  Eventually, competition day comes and goes, the product gets launched and you are Dust.  Dust is the yogic equivalent of ‘back to center.’  It allows your roots to grow with your branches.

The lesson in this is that on a day to day basis balance is difficult to see and achieve, but on a week to week, month to month basis it is mandatory for long term survival and happiness. The beauty of it is that the largest trees also have the largest root system.  

Be a tree.