Swings // A metaphor for life

Swings are pretty amazing when you think about it. You can go from just sitting there alone to flying through the air by just moving your legs. No external forces, no help from anyone, just you. All around us— in our careers, building something, staying motivated, and mental health — the swing is the perfect metaphor.

In your career, you can start with no knowledge, no experience (i.e. no momentum), but with some effort applied over time, you can get higher in your field and become an expert.

As an entrepreneur, you start with only an idea (i.e. you're alone, just sitting there), but a little movement creates some momentum, and if you keep moving you can get really high. But stop too early and your idea won't take off.

With mental health, if we dwell on the negative, we stop moving, and eventually lose momentum, dropping to a low point. And it takes a lot more energy to get out of that low place than it does to get through a low if we keep moving.

Timing matters (but also doesn't). Time those leg swings perfectly and you can get higher faster. But even if you don't know the right timing, as long as you keep moving you’ll be better off than doing nothing.

And with life in general, it's a never ending series of highs and lows. No matter how high you are, you’ll eventually be low. And no matter how low you are, you can always get out of it by just starting to move.

Responsibility. You can't wait for someone to give you a push. Even if they do, you’ll eventually stop again if you don’t do something yourself. How high you get it ultimately on you.

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So yeah, swings. They seem to connect to the fundamental truths in life: with ups come downs, it's up to you to make something of it, and a little movement is all it takes to start.