16 Nov Why It’s So Hard to Get Anything Done, Part One: Physical Reality

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts.”

Winston Churchill.

Hello!

I appreciate your decision to read this article. Every click you make is a choice, and I truly value your continued interest. And, if this is your first time reading what I write, welcome aboard!

Today, we take a deep dive into the roots of the frustration, aggravation, and disappointment that often accompany us as we try to take our ideas, dreams, or visions into Physical Reality.

First, please consider the following: we all live in two realities simultaneously! In addition to Physical Reality, there is a second one, which we can call Visionary Reality.

Each reality uses a unique form of energy. This article explores how energy is configured in Physical Reality. The next article will look at how Visionary Reality is put together and how we can use the energy in Visionary Reality to help us stay on course until we accomplish the goals and dreams that sing to our hearts.

Physical and Visionary Reality constitute the Playing Field of Life. Consider for a moment that you and I… everyone alive… exist on this Playing Field. It was there when we took our first breath. The Playing Field is always with us, whether we recognize it or not. This Playing Field has “rules of engagement,” which we need to learn and practice to be successful without that aggravation and frustration I mentioned above.

Let’s look at a way to see this Playing Field. First, imagine the totality of reality as a blank canvas in front of you. Next, draw an imaginary horizontal line across the middle of this canvas. Below this line is Visionary Reality, and above it is Physical Reality.

Of course, there is no “real” line. Yet, drawing this line helps us clarify the ways these two domains of reality differ. Each domain has its own “rules of engagement.” Many creative and bright people don’t accomplish what they dream of because they don’t know the rules of each domain.

In this article, we look at the chief characteristics of one-half of the playing field: Physical Reality.

The Three Aspects of Physical Reality: Density, Impermanence, and Unpredictability

“The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green Earth in the present moment”

Thich Nhat Hahn

• • Density: Physical Reality is where we “walk on the green Earth.” Here, energy is dense and thick. Objects like trees, rocks, and water exist here because they have shape, weight, mass, and size. You can quantify them. They can be seen. Physical reality is concrete, tangible, and measurable. Density means all the atoms are “sticking together” and that moving, creating, adjusting, or modifying anything in Physical Reality will take energy.

Try this out, and you’ll see what I mean. Close your eyes and picture yourself lifting a piano with your finger. It’s easy, right?
Now, picture yourself doing the same thing in Physical Reality. Impossible! That’s because the energy requirements are much more significant in Physical Reality than in Visionary reality.

In addition, there are six distinct kinds of energy that you and I must use to make a wish come true. They are money, time, physical vitality, creativity, enjoyment, and relationships. Think of any time when it was hard to do what you wished. Did you experience a lack of one or more of these forms of energy?

At times, the experience of energy shortage is more of a cultural phenomenon. For example, 20 years ago, when I asked people why they hadn’t taken the vacation they’d wanted, their first answer was, “I didn’t have the money.” When I ask the same question now, the answer is usually: “I didn’t have the time.” Does this sound familiar?” We need all six forms of energy to succeed in reaching our goals and dreams.

The most challenging aspect of density is this: whatever you want to start or create, whatever you want to put into Physical Reality, will always take ten times more energy at the beginning than you thought. This energy requirement is genuine whether opening a coaching business, writing a book, planning a vacation, or virtually anything else you want to place into Physical Reality. It will always take much more of the six forms of energy than you thought it would! And you’ll most likely experience that requirement as an obstacle to your success.

• • Impermanence: There are no guarantees in Physical Reality. Conditions change. You want to write a book. You write the first chapter after a long, arduous process you undertook just to get the first paragraph of the first chapter written. It’s finally done. But just at that moment your computer breaks! It’s gone blank, and you hadn’t yet saved what you’d written, so it never was lodged in the cloud! You have to write it over again.

Another example of impermanence is this: you decide to share offices with two other professionals. You’re going to split the rent three ways. You move your furniture into your office space. All is going well until one of your office mates gets COVID and, after a protracted illness, decides only to do Zoom meetings with their clients! You and your other colleague must figure out how to find someone else to join you.

• • Unpredictability: Predicting what will happen in Physical Reality is virtually impossible. Well, it’s not entirely impossible. If you want to predict something with close to 100% accuracy, you have to shorten the length of the energy of time. For example, if you want to predict the weather with close to 100% accuracy, forecast what it will be like within the next five minutes. As time lengthens, accuracy diminishes. For example, we all know what it’s like to try to predict what the weather will be like ten days from now when we’re on a beach in Hawaii. I once had that exact experience. Three friends and I planned a great vacation on the “Big Island” of Hawaii. We looked forward to days snorkeling in the clear waters of Kona and then driving to see Kilauea volcano.

When we got there, it was raining. In fact, out of the eight days we were there, we only got to snorkel one day. Clouds hid the volcano, so seeing the crater was impossible. We used the energy of creativity to play card games. We ended up enjoying our time together after we got over our initial disappointment.

The Perfect Game!

Density, impermanence, and unpredictability are the three factors that make up the perfect game! Whether it’s soccer, poker, tennis, or any other game, we’d be bored within the first few minutes if one of these features were missing.

Take soccer, for example: let’s say we’re on a team together, and our coach says: “We’re going to have an exemplary game! I predict we’re going to score through the roof! There’s only one problem: there’s no opposing team.”

Just imagine all of us going out to the playing field. There’s no opposition. Everything is predictable and easy. We can score as many points as we’d like. But without any people to play against, it would be boring and silly to be playing.

There are no obstacles! Let’s be clear about something: we all need obstacles. Without them, there would be nothing to use most of the six energies on. When we have absolute predictability, when it’s easy-peasy to attain our goal, when there’s nothing in our strategy that needs changing… when all of the necessary attributes of Physical Reality are absent, we get bored.

To summarize, let’s be thankful that it’s challenging to play for a goal that has meaning and value for us. We will inevitably meet up with obstacles, given the “rules of engagement” in Physical Reality.

Please find a clean page in a journal or notebook to prepare for the following article. Take a moment and write down one goal you’d like to achieve. We’ll examine strategies that become apparent once we look at what happens in Visionary Reality,

Once again, thank you for your kind attention to what I’m attempting to articulate. You are being very generous, and I appreciate you.

Until next time,