The Spiral of Life

I came across mention of Fred Kofman, author of the new book, The Meaning Revolution...the Power of Transcendent Leadership, in which he argues that  companies can improve long-term growth by helping employees feel that what they do day in and day out makes a difference, that this need to belong and make a difference accounts for some 85% of employee motivation, with incentives such as salary and benefits accounting for only 15%.

The basis is that we have an unspoken and universal anxiety stemming from the fear that our life is being wasted--that the end of life will overtake us when our song is still unsung.

It reminded me of a story about Steve Jobs, convincing the CEO of Pepsi to come to Apple where he, with Jobs,  could make a “dent in the Universe” rather than devote his life to  “sugar water,” And Jobs certainly did make a “dent in the Universe” with his products. such as the iPod and iPhone.

Certainly we don’t want to leave this plane of consciousness with our song “unsung.” But what if we aren’t able to pull it off?  Should that be a major cause of anxiety? Or despair? It seems very limited, very secular, very Earth-bound in its focus. It ignores our spiritual nature, our expressions as spiritual beings having a human experience.

This quote by Ernest Holmes relates to this concept of a “wasted life.”

“The ultimate goal of life does not mean that we shall ever arrive at a spiritual destination where everything remains static and inactive.  That which to our present understanding seems an ultimate goal will, when attained, be but the starting point for a new and further evolution.  We believe in an eternal upward spiral of existence.  This is what Jesus meant when he said, ‘In my Father’s house are many mansions.’ ”

Writer Mark Gilbert interprets the quote this way:

 “Life is about the journey, not the destination. This includes in this lifetime and beyond this experience.

"Reaching some specific goals in this life or the next is a
 very limited way of looking at our spiritual experience.


"The spiral direction reminds us that not only do we go upward, we cannot veer too far from our center.  We may temporarily regress or go backwards, but ultimately life always has an upward direction, even when we think it is not headed that way. 

"The spiral also points out that we may come to what seems to be a similar step in our path as we have traversed before, but we are at a higher turn of the spiral and have a better vantage point and can see and choose what to do from this level of greater experience.



"Finally, there is an acknowledgement that when we do think we have “arrived,” no matter what that looks like, just wait–we are about to launch into a higher adventure.” 


Finding meaning in work is a positive goal. Desiring to sing our song while we still can is another worthwhile goal. It can motivate us to do, be and have what we most long for in this life.

But with a strong grip on the philosophy of Science of Mind, and a deep knowing, we can keep growing and enjoy the journey. We can look to our never ending eternal upward spiral of existence and release any anxiety about a “wasted life.”



And so it is.