It seems like a lot of people are dealing with feeling deflated. That could one of the signs of the times, but it is also a good thing.

I loved balloons as a kid. We used them for water balloon fights with the neighborhood kids; we filled them up and let go of the untied end so they’d fly hither, thither and yon; we would use them for games akin to volleyball.  As much as I loved playing with them, they were some that were darned hard to inflate. There were tricks – stretching the balloons before blowing into them, for example – and there were devices – handpumps made for the purpose – to help balloon users inflate their colorful, flat challenges. I believe the best approach was to inflate the balloon to the amount you could, deflate it, stretch it, inflate it again, deflate it, stretch it, and inflate again. By then you’d have a balloon functioning at its potential.

So, when I now look in the mirror or at someone who feels deflated in the moment, I know that their true growth is just beginning through the cycle of inflate, deflate, stretch, inflate to greater capacity…and so it goes. Our ability to reach potential requires a sequence of those steps. Over and over.  For a lifetime. And that’s okay.