Flat Tire

Several years ago, I was driving on the highway with my young daughter and I got a flat tire.  I'd driven my car for numerous work trips across our geographically large province, some trips totaling over 2000 km in distance.  My poor tire had enough.  It had worn thin.  It wasn't strong enough to withstand whatever it was I drove over that day, and it flattened.

My daughter was probably around 10 years old at the time.  Of course, Mama had to be the rescuer!  However, Mama didn't have the strength to remove the nuts off the tires to get the tire off!  So I did the next best thing.  When a motorcyclist stopped, I accepted his help.  Less than a half hour later, we waved off our lovely savior and laughed most of the way home.

It was so easy to laugh off that experience.  It was a sunny day.  We were giggling at me trying to get the nuts off the tire.  The whole event was just a blip in life and we shared the hilarious story many times afterwards.

Why then, is it so hard to fix the figurative flat tire in life?

When you are an entrepreneur, or a manager, or a parent.... you are on 'Go' from the moment you wake to the moment your head hits the pillow at night.  You may even have trouble sleeping even though you're totally wiped.  At some point, your energy depletes like the air in a tire and you go flat.  You get unfocused.  You might scream at someone.  You forget to tell your husband that you need him to take the baby to daycare in the morning, resulting in a messy morning (yes, this happened to me recently). You are busy but unproductive.

You have a flat tire.

And you need to fill it with air or other things will start to break.

You know this feeling of a flat tire.  It comes as confusion.  Overwhelm.  Chaos.  Indecisiveness.  Negativity.  Low energy.  A feeling of spinning your wheels - which is kind of funny since you have a flat tire!

And you know what to do to fix it.  Take a break.  Breathe.  Meditate.  Exercise.  Do some yoga.  Walk in nature.  Talk it out with a coach.  Organize your thoughts.  Revisit your vision.  All  mindfulness techniques.

But you don't.  You keep on going with your flat tire until you have heart palpitations.  (I know this because I've had them.)

The answer to fixing your flat tire is awareness.  Openness.  And practice.  Know the signs.  Open yourself to just being and freeing your mind.  Practice a mindfulness technique daily.  And experience the harmony it brings to your business and your life.

Oh, and accept help from others.  And laugh.  Without those things, I'd still be on the highway with a flat tire.

Namaste