Negotiating Plateaus
By Bhavana Sarin

Living in the pause is a plateau's purpose and lesson, muses the author

Visualise climbing uphill - one step after the other, each taking one higher, nerves and muscles stretched taut, blood pumping through the veins, the heart thumping with exertion, the body fatigued, and then, finally reaching the top - enjoying the thrill and the adrenaline rush of the achievement.

And now visualise being at rock bottom - living the despondency, the despair, the feeling of being beaten down, on one's knees, weak in mind, body, spirit, totally defeated. Hope, elusive and optimism, non existent. The fightback to normalcy demands effort and attention, clawback being the goal.

As in life, the attention and focus, through the ups and downs, is concentrated to get to a point. If we now visualise reaching there, what do we do next? We've hit a plateau, in simple terms, a flatland.

Nothing exceptional happens in this, 'all dressed up, with nowhere to go' phase. While fightbacks and ascensions are definers, there are umpteen landmark free days, where this plateau keeps you on a level, no downfalls, no peaks, here.

Plateaus ask to keep going, without any reward, without that feeling of achievement, with one's equanimity, tested to the maximum.

Since we are wired for activity, it's easy to feel bogged down and stagnant in this period. The feeling of being stuck could keep us mired in restlessness, when, conversely, taking a break from constant goal chasing, should be restful.

The experiences we gain each day, keeps our data bank replenished with fresh information, all the time. That action period of acquiring knowledge, leaves very little, to no time, for rumination.

The processing time, a plateau imparts, is important, to evaluate what to do with the knowledge and perspectives we have acquired. When we cook, we leave the food to simmer for a while, to enhance it's flavour. While building, construction incorporates wait time for structural strength. Mulling, is as important as gaining, it builds momentum for the future.

For a plateau to be relevant, it's important not to make it one's home. Shelf lives are the windows of maximum efficacy. Idling, at best, is a warm up, a plateau thing.

Shifting gears to accommodate terrains are the blueprints for journeys. They are precursors to getting off the plateau. That can be achieved through a change of scene, a vacation, a complete pulling away from one's routine chores or tasks, pursuing a hobby or passion, spending time with family and friends, or simply being, enjoying sunrises, sunsets etc.

Living in the pause is a plateau's purpose and lesson. Interspersed for the right duration, at the right time and manner, it's what makes the before and after, matter. Ronan Keating probably wouldn't mind adapting lines from his popular number to highlight this - You do it best when you do nothing at all - (for a while only!)