Growth is in the Wobble
The Gift of being knocked off center, of collapse
Spinning Through Our Lives
On a recent call with David Stegman he talked about this model.
The idea that we are spinning tops in our lives.
When things are flowing, we spin upright and move through life more easily.
Stable. Congruent. Grounded.
Other times we may fall or be knocked off center. We wobble.
We may be able to manage through it.
We may need some help getting back to spinning upright again.
Sometimes we collapse.
The top is knocked over completely. We are on the ground. Help is required to get upright again. We have an opportunity to change.
The big idea: growth is in the wobble, transformation is in the collapse.
The Steady Spin
Life is unfolding. Effortless? or Effortful but it flows.
Stuff is happening!
Life is rolling.
We are in Alignment in most, possibly all?!, parts of life
Enjoy it.
And be aware that there is a risk of a groove forming. Comfort here may keep us from growth here.
The Gift of the Wobble
The "wobble" is the day-to-day friction of trying to improve, while getting "knocked off" is the death of the old identity and the birth of a new one.
There’s a difference.
Understanding if we are wobbling, or worse, can inform how to move through it.
The Correctible Wobble, Incremental Growth
A novel wobble, something has happened, it is recent.
A part of you is off, it could be better, the rest of you is doing pretty well. Same with your life.
For example, work is a challenge while your marriage, parenting, and health are pretty good.
You find stability between wobbles. You can recharge and recover.
You can see the issue, or have an idea what it is.
You have a sense for what you can do to address this.
Action in a particular direction, even through fear, can address this.
Your base expands, you are more stable going forward.
The spinning can continue, even with a bit of a wobble.
Can often be moved through with a bit of help.
May expand parts of your life yet fits in it without breaking other pieces.
Opportunity: Embrace the Wobble.
The potential is to develop a stronger, wider, more stable core with new capacity, enhanced resilience.
From this place we can move around life with more power.
The top might look the same from the outside but is more stable.
The Terminal Wobble, Transformational Growth
A recurring pattern or problem. It’s familiar, known…comfortable?
Impacts every aspect of life. Work, relationships, health. All of it.
Brings us to our knees. We lose sleep.
We can’t always see it. Something is really off. We may deny it is, we may be blind to it.
Trying harder may actually make this worse.
Exhaustion at a soul level.
When the top falls over and the spinning stops…then what?
The top can’t pick itself up and start spinning again…help is mandatory.
It requires dramatic change. A new identity. Transformation.
Some part, deep within us, is awake and asking for more.
Opportunity: Tranform
Can we step into the collapse? Receive the help? Grow into what we were being called into?
The top might look totally different.
It will spin different. Life is different.
Where are you?
Spinning, wobbling, on the ground?
We often spend to much energy trying to keep things spinning steadily. We might even forget why we are working so hard to keep that going.
It’s easy to forget that we build strength when we wobble. This is when the growth comes.
We transform when we let go, when we collapse.
If you are on the ground right now, can you ask for and accept the help? Can you surrender and allow something new to take shape.
I’m on the ground now. ✨
I like the word.. the wobble... I spent most of my life in a perpetual wobble. Thanks Kris. Good read.