Week 13: Lessons from the Lotus

Have you ever learned something that apparently the rest of the world knew, but you didn’t? For me, that came in the form of a lotus flower yesterday. I’ve seen the flower all over. 

It’s about as ubiquitous as the zen Enso symbol in the business of mindfulness. I just never knew its story.

So when a new yoga instructor spoke about the lotus flower during class and an old friend shows up to a dinner party with a new lotus flower tattoo, I took this coincidence as an opportunity to learn more about the flower.

What makes a lotus flower so unique is that it’s a little beautiful bright flower that sits atop the water with roots that travel deep into the muddy muck far below.

Its symbolism represents the beauty that can grow out of the muck in our lives. What can it teach us? It turns out, quite a bit.

Two Simple Lessons from the Lotus Flower

1. Out of the Muck, Create Something That Matters

The muck in our lives can be life’s greatest teacher. As Pema Chodron reminds us, “If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy can be our teacher.”

When you put a microscope to the muck in your life, what can it teach you?

For Billy Starr, creator of the Pan-Mass Challenge charity bike ride which has raised over 500 million for cancer research, that muck came in the form of losing his mother to cancer.

After losing his mother to melanoma at the young age of forty-nine, twenty-five-year-old Billy hit a new low. It became hard to focus on anything other than the memories of his mother. So he went for a bike ride. Then another. And another. Instead of ignoring the muck in his life, he dug in deep and grew roots. These roots blossomed into one of the most successful charity race-like events to date.

Billy’s story is not unique, however. A number of people I’ve interviewed have turned the muck of their lives into an opportunity to create something that matters.

The formula? Multiply the muck times your unique talent and add in a big, hairy audacious dream that inspire you. The sum total will be far greater than anything you could have imagined before digging into the muck.

2. Bring Your Muck Into Focus

Yesterday I sat down to write with the full intention to continue work on a book I’ve been putting off. What happened instead, however, grew into over 2,000 words that I splashed in my journal like Jackson Pollock threw paint on a canvas. My stream-of-consciousness led me to discover that I have a bit of a problem with perfectionism.

Julia Cameron was right when she wrote in The Artist’s Way, “Just as a good rain clears the air, a good writing day clears the psyche.”

First, I wrote out all the things I really want to do in the near future, like getting my yoga certification. Then, I wrote out why I feel unable to do it. In the yoga example, I’ve had a deep desire for quite some time to immerse myself in an ashram in India for a two month-long yoga certification.

Since I can’t do this without sacrificing a job I love (psst -- that's teaching YOU), I’ve been putting it off until the timing is right.

All or nothing was my logic. And I’ve always been a “go big or go home” kind of guy. Perhaps it’s the snowboarder machismo in me. Compromise has always been a dirty word — a bit like sipping tea when craving coffee.

But this logic is perfectionism in a mask. And while perfectionism can be a beautiful trait, it can also lead to never getting anything done. So, I left it up to the power of intention. I literally wrote out that if a yoga certification class were to come to my attention that day in a timeline that allowed me to keep my greater responsibilities, I’d move to make it happen. It just so happened that an hour later I entered a new studio who just announced a yoga teacher training program that (at this moment) looks to fit in perfectly.

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If you can’t stand your classes and feel drained at school, identify what it is exactly that drains you. Is it because you’re not inspired or feel pulled down by negative classmates?

If you’re feeling held back, what is it exactly that’s holding you back? Is it feelings of self-doubt or a disempowering friendship?

But instead of just thinking about it. Pull the tangled ball of thoughts into a straight line by grabbing a pen or opening up a word processor.

Type.

Write.

Dig your hands in the muck.

Some other thoughts for your #20time blog post today...

Take a look at the final chapter in Start Something That Matters, then answer these questions today:

1. The first step is often hardest to take because it involves moving into unfamiliar territory. However the truth is that the challenges that occur later in an endeavor are often more difficult to overcome, but they don't feel nearly as hard. Why is that?

2. Think about all the people in your life -- your friends, family, and members of your school community. As you're thinking about starting something that matters, who are five people who you could reach out to for advice? How could each of these people help you?

3. Now that you're finishing up your #20time project (or will be over the holiday break), how will you seize the day (carpe diem)? Are you interested in starting your own business after school or has this project helped you make a big change in your life? Where will you go from here?

It's a bird. It's a plane. It's an Ewok Poodle.