Pushing Against Futility

Finding Sisyphus — spotting unengaged team members - Chris Rudram ...

In Greek mythology, there is an evil and deceitful character named Sisyphus who angers the gods with his unforgivable deeds. Eventually, Zeus punishes him by forcing Sisyphus to push a boulder up a steep mountain. Every time it neared the top, the boulder would slide back down, forcing Sisyphus to begin the process all over again. Zeus cursed him to labor in this hopeless and futile task for all eternity.

Sometimes you may feel like Sisyphus, intensely laboring in tasks that slide backward leaving you with a feeling of futility. No matter how hard you work, things just seem to roll back to how they were. Maybe it’s a struggle in a relationship, and regardless of how much kindness and love you show, that person responds negatively. Perhaps it’s a project or proposal at work that seems to have gone nowhere despite tremendous energy and effort. It could be the seemingly endless sacrifices you are making to get in shape, but your weight loss has stalled out anyway. Maybe it’s those darn kids who seem so entitled and selfish even though you have modeled selfless sacrifice (not speaking from experience, of course). It could be tirelessly striving for a degree you haven’t been able to use because no one is hiring.

The list could go on and on, but the point is, you have probably felt like Sisyphus as times: cursed by the gods and no matter how much effort you devote, it all seems fruitless in the end. But what if it was never about the boulder? What if it was never about changing the position of the rock, but changing who you are in the process of pushing? What if the intent was never to get the boulder to the top of the hill, but for you to be strengthened in the process? For your resolve to be steeled? For your will and drive to be fortified?

Sometimes it’s not about the circumstances or even the outcomes, it’s about how you grow in the process. The boulder may slide back to where it began, but you don’t have to go with it.

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