The 3 Things Rubberbands Taught Me About Life…
Rubberbands or binder, an elastic or elastic band, a lackey band, laggy band, lacka band or gumband (depending on where you come from) are handy pieces of rubber (besides the condom) that we often take for granted. At one point or other in your life, a rubberband would have been a life saver. I certainly remembered when I needed the rubberband to get my Science project togather in one piece.
Interestingly rubberbands can teach us as much about life as a book can. Amazing how such simple mechanisms can teach us a bit of living eh?
Stretch and Snap
Just like a rubberband, life should be lived stretched. Not to the extremes that it snaps. Sometime back, I used to daydream how nice it would be like to lead a carefree job.
The breeze of a 9 to 5 without anything to worry about except remembering your ATM PIN for salary every month end.
I used to even ask my friends who are stuck in such jobs why are they complaining about. Contrast to me, going to the office everyday only to be chasing deadlines, figures and people like a headless chicken!
It wasn’t until I reflected and realized that having a job that did not stretch me enough was the main reason why I left my previous job. It did not challenge me to live my potentials and I felt I was “underutilized”.
Right now, I am facing the exact opposite, I am in a snap position where I am overstretched.You do not get to absorb, learn and enjoy the moments. Rather, living from one crisis to another. Looking forward for the weekend to catch a breath of fresh air.
It was then that I realized a balance of a stretch role to learn, challenge myself, and improve is needed. Ofcourse, besides the chillax moments to savor work, relationships at work, and the joy of contributing to something greater than myself.
Bit by Bit…Little by Little
Just like a rubber band, life’s progress is meant to be stretched bit by bit, little by little.
Exerting too much force will only make a rubberband snap.
I remembered starting to run the 10km run. Only having to gasp for air after 5km thinking “When will this ever end”. But as I gradually, slowly and playfully made little baby steps, I finally found I could run a half marathon in less than 3 hours!
The best way to grow in life is to progress bit by bit, little by little, and enjoying each step of the process. Force and sheer hard faked determination will only make you hate the process and sabotage rather than propel you forward.
Coming Back To Centre
Like a rubber band that always regains its shape, it is vital for us to also centre ourselves when we are out of balance.
Whenever I “don’t feel right”, I always look inward and centre myself via meditation. It helps me see myself as more than just my job, paycheque, or current circumstances.
This is a very normal thing to do.
In Biology, the process of returning to the original temperature or state of a cell is called homeostasis. Its a very biological process but oftentimes we just “bite the bullet” to maintain a “cool” persona only to self sabotage ourselves along the way.
There are many ways to go about this, just as long as it brings you joy. As for me, I exercise, meditate, practice martial arts, do some journaling or just do nothing but enjoy the moment to centre myself back to “normal”. What do you personally use to centre yourself?
Stretch Your Imagination
I bet there’s many other things our little rubberband can teach us about life. Stop for a bit and reflect, what else can a simple rubberband teach you about life? Would love to hear from you.
