BEAUTY IN THE MESS

 

BUILDING BETTER HABITS

A frustrated handsome man struggling to see beauty in the mess / Photo Courtesy / Gustavo Fring

Don’t Be Bothered by the Mess, Just Do the Assignment

Beauty in the mess is always hidden. It is never obvious because in most occasions, it is disguised as pain. In fact, it never looks as beauty at all. Instead, it is usually dressed as chaos. In the form of interruptions, oppositions, pain, hostility, meanness, trauma, resistance, depression, arguments, and even defeat. In the midst of all these messes. It is practically hard to see beauty. Just imagine yourself on an incredible journey somewhere. And suddenly out of nowhere. You hit a bump and your joyful journey comes to a standstill. Yet, you had figured out how to get to your destination. When sudden things like this takes place. They not only take away your focus on the things that matter but also blinds you. Such that you don’t process what just happened well. You won’t be in a position to understand why you suddenly hit a detour because of confusion. Your thoughts will be on “what just happened. I thought I had this matter under control.”

In that shock and confusing mindset. You will see nothing but an inconvenience. Because your schedule had checked off this matter. You were in motion. The cost had already been calculated. And your eyes were set on a totally different thing other than a bump. To that end, a detour will upset you. It will disorient you. And you will hate all that reality of doing things all over again. That idea of stopping to fix a broken thing in the journey will irritate you. It will temper with your mood and as a result. You will not see anything good out of a bump. In fact, inside that mess or confusion, it will be your last place to find joy or contentment. Yet, the beauty itself, is in surviving the mess. Surviving the mess means the tools, resources, ideas, and strategies one deploys to counteract an interruption. The operational mind you always need to have at the back of your mind is, life will always be messy.

Mess, strife, interpersonal tensions, and all types of ugliness will always be part of our lives. However, their existence is not supposed to even worry you. Instead, what should worry you is how you approach them. How does hitting a bump in the middle of a beautiful journey make you feel? How does the idea of life unfolding with various types of chaos impact you? Are you scared of suffering from hostility? Are you afraid of interpersonal tensions? How do you feel when people oppose you? When you are on a mission to fix something and resistance towards fixing that thing comes. What is the climate inside your own heart or mind? This is the assignment not the chaos themselves. You getting interrupted or opposed is not the point.

Attitude in the Mess?

A chaotic road infrastructure hindering beauty / Photo / Hassan Omar

The objective is your response. Your behavior during that time. Your immediate action or reaction. Because how you react to an inconvenience determines a lot of things. Your feelings and attitude determine whether a repair will take place or not. Your attitude in the mess is very important. The behavior alone, tells us whether you are defeated or not. Chaos come with a specific goal in mind. To distract you. And if possible to push you off the road. Chaos have nothing much than a defeat. That is their mission always. And this means that if you live your life without anticipating detours or interruptions. You are the ignorant one. You are the one who is not fully equipped. You are the one who is not objective. You are the one who has failed to use the right lens to see or understand life. Because life has been happening for a long time now.

And it has left footprints all the time. These trails from previous life events, are supposed to be your lessons. Because they are results from unofficial research project. And just like any other results from many other conducted research studies. It has insights, news, lessons, and important data for decision making. Life’s footprints contain all the important data your future needs. Life has all the insights your present needs. You have so much resources and materials you can learn from all without incurring serious costs. In most occasions, it is about your availability. Are you capable of creating time to learn one more thing? Are you available to look at present and past mistakes to help you make the right decisions now? Are you present in your own life? Are you interested in new research projects whose results are highly distributed?

Is the new data in the results important to you? As you can see, finding beauty in the mess is a leadership call. You must have your life under control. Because it is only when you are in charge that you will see a new trend, which is not always part of your life. However, if you are not leading your own life. You won’t even know someone has encroached into your property. You won’t even recognize the chaos because you are the bigger chaos yourself. And when you have so much loose ends in your own life. You won’t even take advantage of critical data meant for critical decision making. Wisdom will be in front of you. And you will  trample on it. Lessons will be glaring at you. But your own distractions will not let you learn anything new. In fact, a simple detour will upset you. A normal interpersonal disagreement will throw you off the cliff.

Be Focused

An organized beautiful executive office / Photo Courtesy / Rana Matloob Hussain

It will make you lose focus that you will even forget where you were going. That is what lack of leadership does to people. You lose things that were not supposed to be lost at all. Because let’s face it. How can things, which are supposed to be under your control defeat you? How can various life challenges defeat you? You are supposed to function as a complete tool. You are always supposed to be ready. Life has all the tools, resources, materials, and equipment you need. Life’s footprints from past life events will always be available. Resources, which you need to sharpen your tools will always be in front of you. The results are always there. A research study was completed a long time ago. It is you who is falling behind. You are living ignorant because you have more excuses than commitment. You are vulnerable because you don’t learn.

Beauty is everywhere. Joy is everywhere. Peace is everywhere. However, are you ready to enjoy any of it? What is the climate inside your mind or heart? Is there peace inside there? Is there calmness? Is there stewardship in your own life? Because if you are living distracted. You will not see anything. You will not learn anything. Mess will always be part of our lives. Chaos will always be part of the deal. This will take place whether you like it or not. Life will be messy. There will be upsets. There will be all types of ugliness. In fact, none of those messes will appeal to you. But be the adult. Have some level of control. Call order in your own life. have direction. Have some level of leadership going on in your own life. Because living right requires a sense of direction. However, if you live haphazard. You will lose the game of life. Chaos will fulfill their mission. They will not only get you agitated but also get you stuck in your own journey. Yet, beauty is in the survival of the mess.