Rhythms of Rest and Run
One can ascend to a higher development only by bringing rhythm and repetition into one’s life. Rhythm holds sway in all nature. Rudolf Steiner
Have you ever listened to an orchestra or band playing and then clearly one of the instruments miss the beat? Or one of the singers starts to sing the lyrics to early? The thing that makes music beautiful is the rhythm. Rhythms enable a whole orchestra of different instruments to do something together that inspires people and fill their hearts with wonder. Rhythms bring unity when two partners dance together and when a crowd claps to the beat of a song. This is the power of a healthy rhythm but also the crisis when someone is out of rhythm. When we have healthy rhythms in life, work, family and society we will produce masterpieces that inspire others and fill our own lives with wonder.
Discipline is the backbone for healthy rhythms and will set us up to draw healthy boundaries for our rhythms of life. Resilient people have well-formed disciplines of rhythms that sets them up to enjoy the here and now. When we think about the competencies that we worked on the last month;
- Gratitude
- Problem Solving, and
- Working with your skills.
None of these will grow in a healthy way without a healthy rhythm, a healthy discipline.
Healthy Discipline:
Many times I hear employees complain about their work rhythms, but like the orchestra each player is responsible to master their own instrument and the rhythm of their music. Each person has the responsibility of working with their time and tempo of life, the responsibility to design the rhythms that will keep you healthy and energised. Design rhythms that is unique to who you are and then practice those rhythms like a skilled musician. We are responsible for our own rhythm, responsible for the way we manage life rhythms and the music we produce out of our life. The conflict comes with our capacity to know when the rhythm requires of us to rest and when we are required to run. In a world that is constantly connected through media, we find ourselves in a constant rhythm of running.
You never hear a drummer constantly beating at the same tempo. Sometimes it is fast, sometimes the beat is slow and sometimes totally at rest. This applies in the same way to designing our own healthy rhythms, we need to design rhythms of rest and run. Discipline in the design and practice of my rhythms helps me to fully live in the moment. Building resilience means building a life where when I am running, I can do it at full capacity in a healthy and productive way. When I am resting, I am relaxed, at ease and able to fully rest and feast in the moment. Healthy discipline in our lives will enable us to produce quality work, nurture deep relationships and have a lasting impact on society.
Tips
- Explore your own time management preferences. When in your life did you really have an energising rhythm? Describe what made this time energising and inspiring. (You can also arrange a time management coaching, to define your own preference more.)
- Assess your current life and leadership rhythms, which of these energise you and where can you change some of these rhythms.
- Design a weekly, monthly and yearly rhythm that consists of rhythms of rest and run
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Written by Magriet Badenhorst – Xpand Consultant, Coach & Trainer
Get your copy of Resilience for R190 today at info-sa@xpand.eu or on kindle.
Empowering individuals and organizations to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.