Stability has been on my mind in recent days given the apparent instability of the world around us. I imagine it’s much the same for you.
For most of us stability is important. Part of our sense of security.
When it is in seemingly short supply anxiety can take hold, distracting us from what needs doing and eroding our sense of wellbeing.
For leaders it’s a double whammy…managing our own emotions and trying not to let these leak and affect the people we lead, their wellbeing and work.
Applying more control is a natural response in turbulence. Gripping onto all the things that might fall or fail. Yet tighter control can have the opposite effect, ramping up anxiety, weakening attention, stifling new solutions to the problem. Now, things don’t just feel less stable, they are.
And what is stability anyhow? We might think safe, ordered, uniform, controlled. Predictable. When put like this it sounds dull to say the least. Without the ups and downs of life, the professional challenges, how do we learn and grow? How do time-expired habits, beliefs, practices, processes get shed for progress and transformation to take root?
So, while stability matters, it has to be in the right place and right proportion.
As with all things we need to look within first before we look out and bemoan or seek to control the disorder.
We can build our inner stability, our ability to handle the outer unpredictability, through reflection, meditation, taking time out each day to contemplate our inner life – thoughts, feelings, connection with our soul essence.
Over time this develops a calm, resilient, courageous centre from which we can engage with the world more positively – working with the rollercoaster ride as an opportunity and bringing others with us willingly.
To create a better world without don’t we need to create a better world within first?