Rethinking Your Life and Work:
Responding from Your Core to the Shock Waves of September 11th

WELCOME!
Welcome to our new web site and to the discussion of a topic that has been on many of our minds these past several months. Our current theme is Rethinking Your Life And Work.

On September 11th - while we watched in disbelief and horror - the World Trade Towers and nearby 3000 citizens from 67 countries - disappeared in moments in an explosion of fire, ash and dust. In the intervening months, as we emerged from shock, many of us have been taking stock of our lives and work - reflecting on what matters most to us. Moreover, the events of the 11th have created numerous shock waves - including economic effects that have rippled throughout the world.

ADVERSITY AS A TEACHER
We find ourselves at a new crossroads - one without signposts. Where are we to turn? How are we to adapt to this new world? This is unfamiliar territory. Many of us feel confused and disoriented as we try to regain our bearings. How can we continue with "business as usual" - when things are simply no longer the same?

I believe that adversity is an excellent teacher. Indeed it is a tool that Nature herself uses to force all her creatures to learn and adapt if they are to survive in an ever-evolving environment.

This is a good time to ask ourselves some really hard questions. For example, I have found myself wondering: Do the people I hold dear really know how much I love them? If I died tomorrow, what would my legacy be? How can I bring my gifts into the world and make it a better place? How can I help bring something positive out of this tragedy?

And these questions are, in part, answered for me personally in The Balancing Act's powerful template for balance and health that has been used across the world for millennia. Indeed this is a great model for positive change, for healing, learning, and adaptation in the midst of difficulty. I know how much it has helped me, and I am convinced that it can help transform our current problems in the most creative possible ways.

THE NEW WAY TO BALANCE
You are at your best with five key building blocks fully in your life and work. I call these vital ingredients "The 5 Elements of Success." These elements are five distinctly different energies that help you "fire on all cylinders" (or, as the US Army urges: "Be all that you can be!")

These five classical elements form a template that is used around the world for achieving health and integrity. I find that this 5-point model is a more helpful way for me to achieve balance than trying to teeter-totter between opposites. It is more flexible and "alive"- in fact, this model is borrowed from Nature herself and mimics how she works.

When all five elements are in dynamic combination, synergy results! Synergy is when things seem to go right for no particular reason, like when a traffic jam inexplicably clears. Synergy is also like harmonic overtones from correct tuning of a musical instrument within itself to make the most beautiful, full, rich sounds.

LIVING IMAGES
The 5 Elements of Success can be seen in all images that are based on the fundamental pattern of the center plus four directions. This includes such common objects as:

• The compass
• A baseball diamond
• The cross
• An "X" that marks the spot
• Native American Medicine Wheels
• Magic circles and mandalas from around the world
• Clocks that chime on the quarter hour
• Spirals
• And also the squared circle shown on the cover of The Balancing Act (this symbol represents the bringing together of heaven [circle] and earth [square]).

The reason that The Balancing Act's image is so easy to learn and remember is because you already know it! It is an "archetype" - a human instinct - that has been used around the world and through the ages. In fact, once you start looking for this image, you'll see it everywhere!

THE FIVE ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS
The five classical elements have long been used to describe the building blocks that make up all living systems. Any system that ignores (or overemphasizes) any one of these essential aspects of itself will quickly go out of balance. This can result in serious malfunction under stress.

Both individuals and organizations are much more than the sum of their parts. When any living system maintains a dynamic balance among its five basic elements, it functions as a well-coordinated whole and grows in more healthy, resilient and integrated ways.

The 5 Elements of Success is a powerful metaphor that can help us remember each of the five components that are key to finding and maintaining our balance. Below is a summary of these five elements as they apply to individuals. I've listed these elements starting with the most obvious, then moving to the most subtle.

• Structure/Body. Physical form, personal health, personal resources (including finances), the externally visible aspects of a person, individual structure, order and habits. (Corresponds to the classical element of Earth.)
• Interactions/Emotions. Ability to work with others, maturity of relationships, emotional depth, range, appropriateness, and control of self ("emotional intelligence"). (Corresponds to the classical element of Water.)
• Mission/Will. Self-discipline, focus, desires, personal mission, "fire in the belly," how handle conflict, how get what want, a can-do attitude, personal power. (Corresponds to the classical element of Fire.)
• Vision/Mind. Personal beliefs and worldview, optimism, creativity, willingness and ability to learn, ability to control thoughts, individual knowledge and capabilities. (Corresponds to the classical element of Air.)
• Identity/Soul. The individual spirit; the most constant, genuine aspect of a person; feeling at home in oneself; being "centered", unflappable, content, calm, grateful and happy. (Corresponds to the classical element of Essence.)

THE BLUES BROTHERS!
When any system is under stress from its environment - as most of us have been these past months - it needs to retreat from the stresses of the outside world and spiral inward to its core. The 5 Elements of Success provides a clear road map of a time-tested path that will lead you to a whole new balance. From there, you will soon be ready to move out from your own center point and redesign your life, relationships, and work.

I like to illustrate this process with one of my favorite movies of all time - The Blues Brothers. If you somehow managed to escape this cultural phenomenon, rent it this weekend. Here's how The Blues Brothers used The 5 Elements of Success.

• Identity. When Elwood picks up Jake at the penitentiary, he tells him that their old "home" - the Orphanage of Perpetual Delinquency - will have to close soon unless it coughs up years of back taxes. Jake and Elwood identify strongly with the orphanage and decide to do what they can to keep it open. But what can they do?
• Vision. Jake "sees the light" at a church service. The inspiration comes to him - we'll have a concert. He informs Elwood, who agrees.
• Mission. Together they set upon what they call their "Mission from God."
• Interactions. But first they have to put together the band - who they have to convince of the value of their mission - and publicize the event (connect with their market).
• Structure. They then give the concert, collect the money, knock down a long line of physical obstacles, and get the money to the tax office on time.

Good luck to you. I hope that The Balancing Act will be helpful in Rethinking Your Life and Work during these difficult times. The world needs your gifts - now more than ever.

Best wishes,
Sharon Seivert