I’m interested in this idea of rise and fall in almost every aspect of our lives. It does seem that what goes up must eventually come down. The stock market, companies, careers, personal growth, aging, etc. All of these areas rise and eventually fall.
Our careers tend to rise for a decade or two, and then we might change directions, or eventually realize we’re in the wrong career, we’ve outgrown it, or sometimes the career outgrows us and we are pushed out of work. For the most part, companies naturally rise and fall as well. Very few people or companies continue to rise without any recession.
We also see people peak at different times in their life. Some people may peak in high school, and then it seems the rest of their lives is spent trying to get back to those glory days. While other people may not peak until they reach their 50s or 60s. There seems to be this path upwards that needs to be conquered, and once that takes place, there may be a period of maintenance that leads to a slow decline.
Sometimes I think that how we react to the fall or decline is extremely important. Many people experience intense frustration and do not know how to deal with the loss, while others have the ability to quickly adapt and pivot into a new reality. This idea of quickly pivoting and changing focus is important in how one handles the fall or decline in their life.
Another possibility is that life can change or alter the path that someone is on. Perhaps there’s a death that occurs that makes one ponder their current existence, or life choices. This can completely derail someone who was intensely focused. I have a current student who was making incredible progress and producing excellent work until his mother died about six months ago. He took a leave of absence, but didn’t return with the same zealous intention he had previously. He’s angry, quick to say no, and without much reason seems to question everything. In the meantime, no progress is made.
It almost seems that we should expect the fall, but most people don’t. Many people expect the future will look just as great as when they are on the way up. One example of this is lottery winners, who within five years have lost everything and need to file bankruptcy. There’s no planning for this increase in income because it happened so quickly. Or perhaps someone with a successful decade along rise in their career expects that this will continue for the next few decades, and when it doesn’t can completely shatter their confidence level and idea of where their career should go. Without a plan, or a way to pivot into something new, a stalemate occurs, and they may not know how to get themselves out of that situation. And the fall continues.
I guess I’m also of the mind that we may have several rise and fall situations throughout our life. For example, we may have a successful career in our 20s and then watch that progress derail. Then we may move to a different company, further our education, or try out a completely different field, and during this time our progress will fall. Eventually, we become successful in our new chosen career and may rise again, and we stay in that rise for decades. But eventually aging and inability of keeping up with the changing times will slow that growth and move into a period of decline. Being aware of these rises and falls is important, so that we understand how everything in life fluctuates, and we can better prepare ourselves for those situations.
Creating a Simplified Life 