How do we manage daily complexity?

The most dominant feature of modern life is the pace we attempt to maintain. Compared with us when we were in school, our kids have a multitude of information to process, resulting in longer and longer days. It’s the same for adults. The evening news is now a simultaneous, multiple-station event. If we’re not channel surfing, we can settle on one network, but between the ticker tape at the bottom of the screen, the main anchor, split screens, and going around the world in eighty seconds or less – frankly, I’m mentally exhausted after taking in the nightly whirlwind of viewpoints. It is a reflection of how fast we expect to receive our information: if we can’t get what we want in less than a few minutes, we’re on to something else, or someone else, that can get it to us faster.

Thank goodness this has been the paradigm for the information age, otherwise we’d still be at our old mainframes in the office, carting stacks of paper punch cards around instead of microchips. The good thing is that humanity is better connected through technology. But the flip side is that it runs our lives and sets the pace, sometimes so fast that we don’t know whether to leap out of bed another hour earlier to get it all done, or simply wear tomorrow’s clothes to bed so we can save fifteen minutes in the morning. Or better yet, let’s not go to bed at all. Didn’t Leonardo da Vinci and Buckminster Fuller train themselves to slide into polyphasic sleep within minutes and snooze less than two hours a day? Perhaps we should add this skill to the high school curriculum so our kids can adequately prepare for the world at large.

What we ought to do is regularly send them up a mountain to revisit life without television, pocket PCs, Palm Pilots, instant messaging, and cellphones. But then again, our kids would probably remind us that they can take their laptop computers up the mountain by way of wireless technology, so why not meditate in the middle of a few downloads off the Internet? We’re so integrated with technology that hastens the pace, we might as well surrender to it. Given the choice, I’d bet we would opt for regular updates on what they’re doing by way of digital photos, e-mailed home once a day.

Staying Grounded

Everyone knows part of human nature is to connect with nature at a deep level – to appreciate the rhythm of life that existed before PDAs. Our community is much more than people, it’s every living thing. Regrettably, there’s no turning back to a simpler time. It’s too late to resign ourselves completely to the mountaintop scenario; even Gary Zukav occasionally makes the trek down to be on Oprah. The new generation’s challenge will be to learn how to maintain balance between our natural and technological worlds, and we are already being warned of what will happen if we don’t find that balance.

Our society feels this uncertainty at a subconscious level because it is a recurrent theme in the films we see, which are such a huge part of American culture. In many ways, we are forecasting reality by creating it on-screen. The film industry is very good at giving us a peek at a possible future because we can stretch the limits of our imagination, both visually and thematically, along with a best-outcome scenario. Remember The Matrix Reloaded? Neo battles the residual effects and horrors of artificial intelligence run amok by developing strength in his mental, emotional, and spiritual focus. He finally understands his true source, knowing he is more than what he sees. His real energy reserve comes from within – that’s what permits him to transform the world.

I think this is a wonderful image of the current state of the world and a lesson in how to stay grounded. Like Neo, we can operate in both the technological and the earth worlds to stay in balance, as long as we know life’s challenges are an illusion. We had better maintain a spiritual focus through it all; otherwise, we will never know what it is worthwhile to expend our energy on. Society is beginning to seriously reinforce the idea that the fundamental glue holding life together is our spirit, our higher self. More important, when we go out into the world, we must rely upon our true self for strength and use it to separate what matters and what does not. Obi-Wan Kenobi, step aside. We’ve now relinquished our light sabers in favor of positive, spiritual energy, delivered to us by our contemporary film heroes. We finally have permission to overcome our difficulties in life with nothing more than a strong sense of self, a positive attitude, and love.

Let’s transform the real world with these artistic visions by renewing our belief in spirit. Make spirit part of your day. A balanced life always begins with an unlimited reserve of divine energy. Perhaps we are helping to build a more balanced future by seeing what can happen when the sum of what we create is synergized with an awakening of spirit and becomes even greater. Using this skill set is a very big first lesson in managing complexity.

Women Are Natural Complexity Managers

Whether we are managing complexity in the office or at home, it is beyond reasonable doubt that women are the ultimate multitaskers, the queens of complexity management. What makes us so capable? Many researchers have been tackling this one for years. They have reached consensus on a few items that have to do with the left brain (linear progression, logic, doing) and the right brain (gestalt, intuition, being). The left side of the brain deals with discriminatory skills and the analytic mode, while the right side deals with holism. Although men and women have the same basic brains and intelligence capabilities, women may be wired differently because of chemicals, hormones, and the density of certain brain regions.

Although it is scientifically inconclusive, plenty of evidence suggests that women may be designed to just process life differently. Why? Women activate more neurons in the brain. Women have between 10 percent and 33 percent more neuronal fibers than men in the forward part of the corpus callosum, the dense fibers that link the two hemispheres of the brain. Because they have more connecting neurons between left and right hemispheres, they tend to use both sides of their brain more than men when problem solving. The male brain tends to compartmentalize and divide tasks between its two hemispheres, suggesting that a man’s ability to focus intensely may be due to the way his brain processes information. Although women can also focus on a single task like men, they are generally much more aware of their emotional depth and are able to perform multiple tasks simultaneously more often than men. In other words, the two sides of a woman’s brain talk to each other. Women are naturally great at integration, communication, and seeing the big picture.

Women can list more than “plentiful brain fibers” on their résumés when applying for jobs in complexity management. Since women hear a much broader range of sounds, and use both ears more equally in listening to words, a woman’s auditory skills enable her to plot a course through many conversations at the same time. Is it any surprise that we can all be talking at once and still know exactly what’s going on?

In our eyes, we all have rods and cones, but women have far more rods in their retinas than men and therefore better peripheral vision, because rods make the eyes light-sensitive. Rods allow us to detect a slight movement in a visual field and let us see better in the dark in order to take in more at a glance. On the other hand, men have more cones than women. They can see one segment of the visual field in greater detail and with better depth perception than women. Cones allow us to intensify clarity and scrutinize something in a sequence. Rods let us see the gestalt, the big picture.

Aren’t these wonderful reminders of a woman’s capabilities? Today’s translation: in problem solving, men are better suited to deal with one thing at a time while women take in complexity all at once. What the scientists don’t tell you is this: when complexity is overwhelming, by design or default, women not only shift into autopilot to pick up the slack but tend to deplete their emotional inventory along the way. Women are wired to keep taking it all in and to view life as one big operating system. No need to apologize for the way we do things – it’s just who we are. And there are no special categories of rods and cones that help women stay on top of complexity – unless, of course, we maintain balance by telling our brains to rely more on the left side.

When we start piling up the gender-based facts of our own nature, it is undeniable that women not only have beautiful, incredible brains but are genetically suited to steer through the complexity of work, family, and home life. There’s a great scene in White Christmas where General Waverly informs Emma, the confident and sometimes meddlesome housekeeper, that he will court-martial her for sending all his suits to the cleaners at the same time, leaving him nothing to wear but his army uniform to attend a surprise reunion of his military unit. “Go ahead,” she retorts, knowing that he’ll have to show up wearing the uniform because that is what she wants him to do anyway. “I’ll make my own decisions,” he argues back. “I got along very well in the army without you!” “Well,” she says, before she turns on her heel and heads out the door, “it took 15,000 men to take my place!”

I love that scene. It reminds me we often don’t congratulate ourselves enough for our intuitive ability to navigate through life’s complex levels. Nor can we rely on receiving appreciation from the many people whose lives we organize. What we could have more of is a little self-appreciation of our ears, rods, and cones, and the fact that we are biologically gifted to be 15,000 men when needed. Now more than ever, it is our time to pull out the stops on the multitasking we do in building careers, raising families, managing aging parents, running everyday home life, and having some fun and social life in between. Honestly, if our culture recognized women’s inherent capabilities, we’d be basking in self-love and amazement at what we’ve actually accomplished. We could recognize that it is indeed our time, and our job, more than at any point in history, to keep things going at work and on the home front, while facilitating spirit in the process.

Ride Daily Complexity with More Present-Moment Awareness

Managing complexity is different than managing old, negative thought patterns. Your goal is to unseat negative thought patterns, and not create a more extensive inventory of old ideas and emotions to manage. Because of the pace women choose today, we are naturally gifted at managing complexity, but we must not rely exclusively on automatic programs to get through the day, without any sense of self-love, nurturing, or awareness that we are consciously creating our day for our own self-development, and not for others.

Although automatic programs help us function and navigate through complexity (who has time to think about how to drive the car so the kids can get to school?), we can’t rely upon them like robots. For joyful and fulfilling lives, we must make an effort to be conscious of what we are doing and why throughout the process, taking time to evaluate what produces feelings of satisfaction. When there doesn’t appear to be any positive feedback from the environment, we reset to the conscious awareness channel. Without adding any additional complexity, what can women do between laundry and writing corporate reports that would gently bring our minds back to a sense of purpose and present-moment awareness?

Build Thankfulness into Your Spiritual Skill Set

Living in a continual state of positive thankfulness is so important when managing life’s complexity. True thankfulness is gratitude for life’s learning opportunities and for spirit being present to get the lesson to sink in. It is impossible for us not to sweat the small stuff – for women, there is no small stuff! It’s tough to rise every day knowing that each circumstance we encounter is meant to keep us learning on our soul journey. It is easy to get lost in the details, but what we can do is counter the challenges with some skills in the appreciation category.

First, you must affirm your innate ability to manage complexity and simply feel good about having a built-in skill set that you can lean on. For example:

– I can do anything I set my mind to.

– I am strong enough to withstand any criticism that comes my way.

– I navigate through this course with ease.

– I’m a social octopus and have fun doing things with so many people.

– I have the ability to see this situation through because I believe in myself.

– I’m captain of my own ship and set sail anywhere I choose.

– I live through this day with effortlessness.

– I help people wherever I go by being an example of strength and wisdom.

– I feel on top of the world with spirit, which knows no boundary.

– I’m smart, competent, and wise.

– I have great experience in this area and I move forward with ease.

The second skill is to affirm that spirit is a part of each day and every circumstance, and invite it to become part of your skill set, in whatever manner feels right to you.

– I rely upon Mother/Father God to help manage this situation.

– I feel content knowing that spirit helps to choose what is best for me.

– God can tackle this situation and works through me.

– I channel divine love to aid in this situation.

– With each breath I take, I am blessed and supported by a higher power.

– The Goddess gives me healing power for this situation.

– I am expressing the light of Christ consciousness with every word I speak.

– I am supported by the universe.

The third and most certain way to manage complexity is to live in a state of thankfulness for all you have. You may think this is difficult to do: how can we be thankful for traffic jams, lousy weather, lost dogs, and missing luggage? The answer is: widen your perspective. Being thankful extends beyond the thanking we do for material possessions, job security, or life accomplishments, which is easy. A thankful state of mind and heart pertains to the continual acknowledgment that, in each and every instance when you experience something much less than ideal, the experience is for your greater good. In doing so, you are relying on your higher power, and strengthening your connection to the Divine. For example:

– I am grateful for this opportunity to learn more about my capabilities.

– I thank the universe for showing me this situation so I can be more compassionate toward others.

– I appreciate all the beautiful parts of my body because I am a wondrous creation.

– I welcome this challenge in my life and am thankful I can inspire others.

– Because of the family I have chosen, I am thankful to be even stronger than yesterday.

– I receive all my good with a thankful heart and rejoice in my blessings.

– My difficulties today allow me to cultivate wisdom. I am a wise soul!

Adopting this type of thankfulness puts you in the Super Bowl of big-picture thinking. You are not thanking the universe for giving you a bad circumstance, which will only generate more bad happenings. Instead, you are flourishing in a state of complete appreciation for what life has to offer.

Don’t you always feel more inclined to give more to someone when they are enthusiastic and appreciative? Consider the times you have helped someone and have been overwhelmed with thanks. Didn’t it make you want to give more? Like does attract like, despite what you’ve been told in the past. Although at a subatomic level, positively and negatively charged particles are attracted to particles with the opposite sign, and repelled by particles with the same sign, they are not a good model for our own behavior and attitudes. Our theory of the electromagnetic force does not account for the state of the heart. If you want to be a person who is appreciated, then continue to give unselfishly, thanking others for all they do. The same is true with the universe. Life provides exactly what we continue to acknowledge. You’ve got to learn to love life, be in love with life, at an intimate level. Anytime we acknowledge that life is good, we are entering a state of gratitude. Be thankful you have an opportunity to challenge yourself.

This is a discipline requiring practice. Write thanks to yourself, and to others, on a regular basis. Wherever you go, show up with a compliment. When you visit someone, bring something positive in the form of affection or caring. Tell your friends how much you appreciate their sense of humor or their graciousness, and never assume they don’t need to be thanked. Write thank-you notes for dinners, gifts, and prospects you receive from all people in your life – your family, your partner, your children, and your business colleagues. When people receive your thanks, especially in written form, they take a little bit of your spirit throughout the day. Quit procrastinating and learn to get the words out of yourself. Once you learn how to do that, you will be amazed how that energy comes back to you.

Living in a continual state of thanks for being alive and well, and having a chance to improve the lives of others through your words and actions, turns negative situations around very quickly. By allowing life to happen through you, you offer your own unique thumbprint of the Divine. That is called living with joy.