The Good Place: Does X Mark the Spot?

If you have ever felt lost, distracted, or discombobulated, then you know that finding a stronghold or definitive place of lucidity, is elusive. I hear people say "I am in a good place," when they are asked the question "How are you doing?" This got me thinking, what is this good place? Is it a permanent location, easy to reach? For some I think it is. For me however, it can prove challenging to locate let alone be a place to drop anchor at. My inner arrogance often preventing me from finding safe harbor. Is this good place marked on our personal, mental map? Does X mark the spot? Or, is it a signal or beacon drawing us to its general location: each of us with different expectations and intentions?

This notion of an individual good place made me ponder even further. What is my good place? Is it a quiet spot of solace or an adventurous theme park? Is it warm sand beneath my toes or a mountain top to climb alone? It isn't always easy to grab a hold of.  For me, it is both slippery and nebulous. I can sense it when it is near, but it is often shadowed in my uncertainty. A thick cloak hindering my journey. If I want to nestle in to its charm and charisma, I have to believe in myself more. I need to intently focus to find it. I am not an unhappy person, in fact I am usually optimistic and open-minded, but the good place is not a permanent venue for me. I struggle with being stationary. I am constantly looking for the next opportunity. Often adding to my self-doubt and exhaustion.

When I enter the 'good place' I enter for clarity and reassurance. I only achieve it temporarily because the moment of precision and purity migrates and shifts, I am in continual pursuit. My emotions fog its location. I doubt, confuse, perplex and it slips from my view. Obscured and shrouded not by others but by my own mind. I second guess, alter my point of view and creep into curiosity which leads me astray. This estrangement is a necessary step towards my growth and wisdom. However, I feel the absence of the good place, this vacancy lingers densely around me, a murky vapor, swirling and agitating not only my vision of its location but my determination to reach equilibrium again. To step on shore of my own good place, solid ground, contentedness. Knowing all the while it will deviate and the pilgrimage will begin again.

Adversity is the vehicle which keeps me from isolating myself for too long on my deserted island. The challenge, the struggle, the practice. I have a place where I retreat to when I get frustrated, anxious or downtrodden. The place I know no one will judge me. But I need to quickly find an escape, keep my field glasses focused past the glare of anxiety and worry and on the fleet of ships on the horizon that beckon me to row towards them. My PLN, my colleagues, my friends and family. If I look past the miles of tumultuous ocean separating us and focus on the expedition, I can settle into the process, the goal. But, if my gaze looks upon the darkness below me I lose myself in hesitation and indecisiveness. It is a difficult journey to trek away from what I know to be safe towards ambiguity. I over-think everything. I easily latch on to apprehension, I always have. It takes two oars to keep me paddling to the good place. They have been placed in my canoe, I put them in myself. I just sometimes forget to utilize them

To me, the good place, is not an X or precise frame of mind. It is in flux with the circumstance or situation. The good place is ambiguous and fluid. A temporary respite that allows me to rest up for the next journey. If I hunker down and stay too long, I can get complacent and contented. The good place for me personally, is not necessarily a happy one but an energizing one. I see joy and happiness as the waves and tides that lead me there and self-confidence the current that drives me to a new location. To me the good within the good place is the power that channels me toward betterment. It is the intermediary between where I am and where I am going. It is not absolute nor is it unconditional. When I take it for granted it eludes me. When I doubt its influence and potentiality it halts my purpose. Only when I look deeply at my vulnerabilities and egotism can I obtain it. It, the moment of congruence of reason, humility and motivation to conquer anything that blocks the path to the good place.