Are we still ALL IN?

Day 46.

Are we still ALL IN? Normally I ask myself that question every month or so, just to kick myself in the butt in case I'm slacking. Sometimes we get complacent in our journey, and aren't giving our best. And its in those times we are most vulnerable, and most willing, to give up.

That seems backwards in a way. If we're trying our best, loving our most, living up to our potential, we should be at the top of our game. We should be sharing our happiness with others, making connections that will last a lifetime. But sometimes, at our highest points, we are also the loneliest. We are just waiting on that other shoe to drop, to tear apart what we've worked so hard to create. That seems the time to give up, to surrender to our fates and let go of what we cherish.

Instead, when we're not giving out all, not fulfilling those expectations we've set for ourselves, that's the time we feel like quitting. We begin to believe we can never reach those goals, never find the love we're searching for, that we're not going to have the things we seek. Half efforts result in half results. Or as those Navy engineers say "proper planning prevents piss-poor performance."

Giving your best isn't easy in good times, and even harder in the bad ones. I got my philosophy on this from... yes, good old Richard Bach. In one of his other books, One. The discussion about soulmates, he talks about how relationships drag people down, then lift them up. To make one work, you can't have two anvils. They'll never learn to fly. You also can't have two ballons. They'll never be grounded in reality, and just float away. You need one anvil, and one balloon. One to keep you grounded, and one to help you fly. Together. Without that balance, one person will feel neglected. Taken for granted, pulling more than their weight. That never works out.

You both have to be ALL IN no matter what your role is. If you're the anvil, you have to make sure things are real. Make sure there's focus, a plan, an outcome. If you're the balloon, you make sure there's humor, that there's good food and friends, that you never take things too seriously.

Lesson 46: Are you still ALL IN? Do you know if you're the anvil, or the balloon? Think about your role in the relationships you're in, and make sure you're doing the things that fit that role.

684 to go...