What does it take to Flourish?
There is much to say about human flourishing. Pick up a book, read an article, a business plan or an advertisement and the word seems to be appearing everywhere; but it's hard to talk about flourishing when so many feeling they are only just surviving.
I’ve been studying, researching, talking about and living with the question: ‘What does it take to flourish?’ for nearly four decades. I've developed and led hundreds of workshops and programmes around the world at personal and corporate levels, with people from all backgrounds. Long ago I believed, but now have come to know, that flourishing is deeply personal; it is a subjective phenomenon for which the final judge is “whoever lives inside that person’s body”. What I have observed in everyone, however, is that to flourish takes intention, attention and practice – I call this taking initiative. We can learn much from Mother Nature, but we humans have the added complexity and confusion that comes with having an ego and feisty willpower, traumas and heartbreaks, habits, beliefs and social conditioning all going on at the same time as we strive for happiness and search for the meaning of life. Phew, it's complicated!
Over the years I’ve made the following distinctions between health, wellbeing and flourishing that have served me and my clients well. Consider these definitions, sourced from my own work and the dictionary:
Health is what we do. Health is: ‘the state of being free from illness or injury’
Wellbeing is a state of mind. Wellbeing is: ‘the state of being comfortable, healthy or happy’
Flourishing is a way of being. Flourishing is: ‘developing rapidly and successfully; thriving’
In the midst of the crises, disruptions and challenges we're navigating, it is more important than ever before to go beyond wellbeing and commit to flourishing, for ourselves and our planet, and to understand what it will take for us personally, and for the collective. In a crisis, both in life and business, we always have a choose; to succumb to the circumstances or the disease, or take up the challenge to heal and flourish.
Let’s begin at the personal level. I invite you to work with the following questions for yourself. Use a journal to reflect on the questions below and see what answers arrive. This is not about what the research says, or the latest webinar you’ve watched or book you’ve read; it’s about what you feel and have a sense of. It's deeply personal.
What does flourishing mean to me?
How would I know I was flourishing, what would I be feeling?
What might it take to achieve that state?
Do I believe it’s possible for me to flourish?
Holding the possibility of flourishing is an important starting point. Remember flourishing does not equal happiness. Each and every one of us has borne witness to the notion of ‘flourishing’ all of our lives as Mother Nature demonstrates what it takes. With grace the creatures and living systems of our planet move through the seasons. In harmony with the natural cycle, Mother Nature brings us Summer - the time of harvest, Autumn - with the shedding and letting go of the old. Winter brings hibernation and restoration, and Spring, the promise of new life.
We will all experience each of the four seasons at different life stages and transitions, in the losses we face and the triumphs we celebrate - I call these the ‘seasons of the soul’. In our modern day lives and the pursuit of personal happiness and business growth many have lost the capacity to honour all of the seasons. Each season is necessary for our development and evolution; all are necessary to flourish, and we must trust that after a Winter comes the Spring. None of us will escape a Winter of the soul when our light is dimmed, a time when vitality has left us and joy is nowhere to be found. For some this may simply be a sense of existing without the feeling of being truly alive, for others it can be times of loss – of a loved one, a job or a business failure; yet it can also be a time of hibernation for renewal and reflection.
Unfortunately, most of us are not very well equipped to honour the Winter in our personal lives or in business; and are often holding out for the next Summer. Many of us are taught to look upon loss, illness or suffering as the opposite of flourishing, but, just as in nature, they are essential for our human development and to build our resilience. We need a new narrative and perspective for these times and we must change if we are to embrace an uncertain future. The seasons remind us of the impermanence of life and how change is inevitable; the ever constant.
Now in Autumn, it’s time to let go of what no longer serves us, to shed the baggage of regret that weighs us down, to release the feelings of blame and shame that have held us back. It’s time to listen to Mother Nature, work with the energy of the season and lighten the load. What will you release to this season?
Stay tuned for more on flourishing…