Make that Move!
Living in the South African Bushveld, I get to see nature at its best; daily sightings of bold buck making their way past my office to the nightly frog infestation in my kitchen (yes, you heard right!). In case you are a nature lover, and thinking omg! that is so cute, it’s not, it was, the first few nights, but seven summers on, I really would like them to leave now. Moving along, among all the beauty that exists here, you can find the odd jackal, a cutesy dormouse my cat finds, or an inquisitive snake who chooses my car’s engine for a home. That, my friend is a story for another day. As you might have gathered by now, some sightings are more welcomed than others of course.
Which brings me to my arch nemesis. I am aware that I am being a tad dramatic, but not only am I highly allergic to these little critters, but they are just a plain nuisance. Their sight and sound is annoying, and together with their sting makes it a trifector of pure irritation. (Oh! Don’t judge me). There isn’t a day that I don’t have a run in with one. They basically zooming in and out of my house, bringing their babies food in the multiple nests that they built in the most inconvenient and inconspicuous places. Whilst writing this, there is one flying above me. Argh! Oh right, I didn’t mention what it is, these unwanted kamikaze flyers are the….. wait for it….. the deadly Wasp! (deadly to me, I’m allergic not dramatic). One sent me to the emergency room, and yet, another story for another day.
Whilst sitting at my desk not so long ago, my attention was captured by a wasp in its endless endeavour to fly outside, it flew towards an open window, but kept missing the opening by 2cm at least. It flew into another room, and then back to my office in the pattern of the infinity sign, and kept hitting the exact same spot on the window, each time slam, bang, slightly dizzy and then, at it again. I don’t know how many times it did it, all I know is that my mind started to wander away, while watching this wasp follow the same pattern yet missing the opening, thinking this must be the dumbest wasp ever to have flown the open skies, if it would just adjust its pattern, it will get out.
As that thought left my mind another popped right in, “are we not exactly the same as people?”
Don’t we do the same things over and over and expect a different result? It was a sobering thought, and I felt a little guilty for judging the wasp (I know, it’s just a wasp, but hey, I’m just being honest here.)
This awareness certainly made me think about what “holding patterns” I might be having. Oh right, what is a holding pattern you may be asking. Well, in aviation terms, a holding pattern is the flight path maintained by an aircraft awaiting permission to land. Have you ever just wanted to get home after a long flight, to be freed from your little congested seat, having sat way too close to complete strangers for way too long, and just needing to breathe in some clean fresh air. Then you hear the pilot saying that we are waiting to be assigned a bay, and we shall be in holding (circling above the airport) for a while. Nothing is more frustrating than being home, seeing your city below, but being unable to get there yet. That is being stuck in a holding pattern.
The Collins Dictionary describes a holding pattern like this, “If something or someone is in a holding pattern, they remain in the same state or continue to do the same thing while waiting for something to happen." Wiktionary goes on to describes it like this, “Any failure to advance; useless or unproductive activity.”
I like the Wiktionary definition, it shocked me into reflection on what could be contributing to my failure to advance, and what are some of my unproductive activities.
Here are some familiar holding patterns that might ring true to you:-
Relationships: Ever dated someone - and it felt like your previous relationship except with a different face? Yep holding pattern!
Self-sabotage: Want to give up a few kilograms, but your shopping list/cart hasn’t changed? Yep, another holding pattern!
Friendships: You tend to hang out with the same people, who are just like you , think like you, and hang out in the same places as you. Yep you know it, holding patterns!!
Einstein tells us that doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is Insanity….. keeping the same hold patterns in different areas of your life, amounts to the same thing. Beyond just making your list of holding patterns, I trust that you are able to make the SHIFT! Don’t be like the wasp stuck in my office, adjust your pattern, and take flight toward to the life of your dreams.
