Where Am I On My Scale?

This isn’t a question about weight, and it has nothing to do with bathroom scales. It’s a question about perspective.  I “collected” this question from a podcast. I love listening for robust and meaningful questions in the stories and experiences of people. This was the true story of a young woman who set out with her husband to row across the Atlantic Ocean, from Britain to Barbados, in a rowboat they built! (What could possibly go wrong?!) As soon as they were in the open ocean, they realized that her husband had an overwhelming fear of open water. After a few days, she had to radio for rescue, and her husband was taken off the boat. She made the unbelievable decision to continue on by herself. It took her three months, but she did it; she rowed across the Atlantic Ocean by herself! (Rob cast Episode 206 Debra Searle Did What? Check it out. You won’t be sorry!)    While at sea, she learned to cope in extreme and lonely conditions. One habit she developed is a “how-bad-is-it-scale.” Creating this scale was a critical tool for perspective and resilience on the open ocean, and it works on dry land too! A 10 for her was rowing her boat onto land in Barbados. A 1 was being eaten by sharks.   Then, when she was feeling down, overwhelmed, scared, she would say to herself, “where am I on my scale?” Usually, when she sat back and thought about it, in light of her best day and the very worst, she would find herself at a 6 or 7. The result was what seemed overwhelming and crippling viewed by itself when put into context on her scale. She was able to approach it with some perspective.  What is your scale?   What is a 10, the best ever day, things are going swimmingly? What is a 1, the worst, most challenging day? When you have a personal scale, you have a tool that can help you put your challenges into your own context.   In some ways, that is the power of this tool. It’s by your own design. It’s not some outside perspective that is placed upon you by others.  This is your scale based on your life.  For this to work, you have to actually have your scale. You have to think about it and identify your 10 and your 1 and maybe your 5. Then when you need it, you have set markers that can help you evaluate where you are.  And maybe, just maybe, when you are spinning out of control, you can sit back and think about your scale you can start to see what feels awful right now, in light of the best and the worst; it isn’t really that bad.  “What we do see depends mainly on what we look for. … In the same field, the farmer will notice the crop, the geologists the fossils, botanists the flowers, artists the coloring, sportsmen the cover for the game. Though we may all look at the same things, it does not all follow that we should see them.”  ― John Lubbock,  If you like these questions, please consider SUBSCRIBING to The Art of Powering Down; Questions to Recharge Your Soul… Every week there is a question that will gently challenge you, encourage you, or help you live your life with more intention, grace, and purpose. (Sharing these reflections and questions with friends is the greatest compliment!)

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