Metaphors That Can Fit Your Life or Journey

Metaphors That Can Fit Your Life or Journey Happiness Print Metaphors That Can Fit Your Life or Journey By Leonard Holmes Reviewed by Reviewed by Amy Morin, LCSW on October 28, 2019 facebook twitter instagram Amy Morin, LCSW, is a psychotherapist, author of the bestselling book 13 Things Mentally Strong People Dont Do, and a highly sought-after speaker. Learn about our Wellness Board Amy Morin, LCSW Updated on November 05, 2019 Philip and Karen Smith / Taxi / Getty Images More in Self-Improvement Happiness Meditation Stress Management Spirituality Holistic Health Inspiration Brain Health Technology Relationships View All Metaphors are figures of speech that state that one thing is actually another thing. They are a way of creating a comparison that while not literally true, provides a figurative meaning. Metaphors for life are a way of comparing life to other things in a way that may help you think about your life and problems in a different way. Collectively, metaphors not only help people describe and make sense of their lives, but can serve as a source of encouragement, motivation, or gratitude. There are a number of common metaphors that can be used to inspire you (or help you get out of a rut) in your daily life. For example, some people see life as a battle. Every encounter is a struggle, and if they dont win, they feel like they have lost. Others view life as an adventure. A new day brings new opportunities to explore, and if something goes badly today, theres always tomorrow. Origin of Metaphors How do these metaphors develop? As children, we begin to understand and organize the world. If we think of the brain as a filing cabinet, then childhood is when we open the files and label them. We often spend the rest of our lives putting new material in these old files. If childhood was healthy, then we may have a pretty good filing system. If it was a struggle, then we often see struggles for the rest of our life. We dont know the origin of many life metaphors, but many have stood the test of time for good reasons. How do metaphors help us make sense of our lives? Uses for Metaphors in Daily Life Metaphors not only help us define and describe an experience, but they can be used to improve our lives in many ways. If you are facing a challenge, a metaphor might help you see the big picture and give you strength; for example, someone going through cancer treatment may view the journey as climbing a mountain. Metaphors can also provide a picture that helps others enter your world. Its true that a picture is often worth a thousand words, but a word picture (a metaphor) can sometimes do the same. Finally, a negative metaphor may help you see that you havent been living your life the way you wish, and might just be the stimulus you need to make changes right now. Common Metaphors for Life Metaphors for life are not always obvious. We may have to stand back a long way to see patterns like this in our lives. Metaphors can be positive or negative. Because the way we look at lifeâ€"which is often much easier to understand with a word picture (metaphor)â€"can have a great impact on how our lives unravel, its worthwhile thinking about which metaphors below fit the life you are living today. These are just examples and not every metaphor will resonate with every individual. Take a moment to think of other metaphors that may describe your life or serve you better. A Garden If you see a garden as a metaphor for your life, you may see that relationships with family and friends can be cultivated like flowers or vegetables. Relationships, like flowers, need regular watering. They need sunshine. Sometimes they need to be pruned. Sometimes you need to weed the garden (eliminate toxic friends). The end result of careful and regular care, with timely interventions for insect infestations or decay, can lead to plants  (or relationships) that are growing, producing oxygen that helps you breathe, and create beauty as they flower. A Battle You may see a battle as a metaphor for your life if everything is a competition or a struggle. In a battle, you are always either winning or losing. If a battle represents your life, you may wish to look at how life isnt always about winning or losing. Relationships, especially, are not always a competition. Sometimes it is better to be loving than to be right or win. A Mission Viewing your life as a mission can be either positive or negative. You may feel that you have talents and gifts you wish to share widely. On the other hand, in believing that you have the truth, you might feel that you need to convince others that your point-of-view is right. Just as with missions throughout history, your life can be a platform to bring goodness to the world, or instead, impose your beliefs on those who do not wish to hear them. A Journey A journey is a common metaphor for life as it reminds us that the destination is not our only goal. Like with any form of a journey, there are times when the roads are straight (life is on an even keel) and times when they are winding. There are ups and downs and potholes along the way. And there are often wonderful surprises and fun discoveries that you would never have experienced if it wasnt for the route you chose. An Adventure An adventure can also be a beautiful metaphor for life. We dont always know where we are going, but the thrill of our travels (day to day living) leaves us excited and ready to see new things. A Building A building is a solid metaphor for life and can be a reminder that a sturdy foundation is needed before building higher. Once you have a firm foundation in place, whatever that means to you, its easier to confidently add floors and rooms which will stand the test of time and weather. A Roller Coaster A roller coaster can be a metaphor for life in general, or instead, describe the speed bumps we all encounter. For example, people with cancer know all too well the roller coaster effect of a challenging diagnosis. Using the metaphor of a roller coaster also illustrates what many people who have had hardships understand so well. You dont fully experience the high points of your journey without the contrast of the lows. As recent proof of this theory, studies are now finding that being diagnosed with cancer changes people in positive ways as well as introducing challenges. A Stained-Glass Window The metaphor of a stained-glass window illustrates not just the variety of lights and colors which make up our world, but the beauty in every person and situation. Cultivating an attitude of gratitude by taking the time to see what isnt obvious at a quick glance can be illustrated by this metaphor. A Mountain Climb Climbing a mountain is a great metaphor for many parts of our lives. It can describe our education or the steps we take in climbing the corporate ladder. Life often consists of hierarchies. This metaphor also illustrates that it often takes hard work, determination, and sometimes sheer endurance to get where we wish to go. Most mountains paths are not directly uphill, but take us down through valleys to get to the next peak. Emotional resilience allows you to follow the trail as it descends before it turns the corner and heads back up again. A Race A race can be both a positive and negative metaphor for life. In the biblical sense of the metaphor, we are called to run the face of life not only for the prize. A race can also be a negative metaphor as in the rat race of our lives, describing how sometimes we are so busy going from one place to another that we never really stop to enjoy any particular moment. In yet another negative sense, a race can describe the practice of always finding the fastest route, or needing to keep up with the proverbial Joneses. A Courtroom If you view life as a courtroom, life can be challenging. In a courtroom, everything in life should be fair. Real-life, however, is not always fair. Good people die young and criminals go free. If you try to constrain your life to the metaphor of a courtroom you open yourself up for repeated disappointment. Stepping Stones Stepping stones can be a metaphor for life in many ways. In a negative sense, stepping stones may describe the phenomena in which we barely get comfortable where we are before we are looking for a better job or a bigger house. In another sense, stepping stones can be a very positive metaphor of a life lived with goals in mind, and conscious awareness of the steps needed to get there. In yet another sense, such as those stepping stones crossing a stream in a Japanese garden, they can describe how we sometimes take a detour right or left along our way to prevent negative influences from catching up with us. A Classroom Life is a classroom in so many ways and there are always new lessons to learn no matter your age. This metaphor can be a reminder to keep your mind active and learning throughout your life. A Prison A prison can be a metaphor for a life in which you feel out of control. You may feel like you dont have choices and that others have the power. If this is you, it might be helpful to visualize a key to the door by which you can escape to your freedom, and what that might mean in real life. Learning to reframe a situation such as this can shift your perspective and change everything. A Battery A battery can be a life metaphor of being drained and recharged through life, such as the daily drain of energy-related to work, followed by weekends and evenings in which to recharge. Often taking small periods of time to recharge at frequent intervals leaves your battery less likely to die (lose all energy). Effects of Life Metaphors While there are no specific studies looking at commonly held life metaphors and wellness, positive thinking is beneficial in many ways. A general attitude of optimism has been correlated with lower rates of cancer, heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease, and infection.?? How to Use Metaphors In Your Life The examples above are just a few of the life metaphors that illustrate peoples lives. What metaphor(s) fit your life? Do they work for you or do they cause problems and limit your choices? Its possible to change metaphors or modify yours (such as adding the key to the prison cell,) but it can take some effort. Taking the time to think about the metaphors which fit your life can be used to find patterns that arent working well for you, to motivate you in positive directions, and to help you cope with the obstacles we all periodically face. Think of your life metaphors today, but dont stop there. Periodically re-think your life metaphors. Are they positive metaphors that bring you peace and contentment, help you reach goals, or allow you to see the beauty around you? Or are they negative metaphors which are limiting your life? The particular metaphors you choose should be those that fit you alone, not somebody else. Good mental health includes having life metaphors that help you see the big picture of your life. After thinking about your life metaphors, learn about other ways in which you can become a positive thinker and reduce stress in your life. Great Ways to Relieve Everyday Stress

Case 28ID A Case Study of Cisco Systems - 1538 Words

Case Analysis #28 Cisco Systems, Inc.: Acquisition integration for manufacturing Who are the main players? The main player in this case study is Cisco Systems, Inc. Cisco is one of the largest and most diverse technological firms in the IT industry at the time when the case study was set (in the mid 1990s). The other key player is Summa Four, a mid-sized technology firm that Cisco desired to acquire. In the 1990s, Ciscos dominance was legendary. It had played a critical role in forming the architecture of the World Wide Web, by developing the first multi-protocol router that could link all of the worlds computer networks together. It began to compete with Lucent Technologies and Nortel in the market for technology to transmit voice, data, and video and formed a partnership with Sprint, giving it a competitive advantage over these larger and more established companies. Summa Four, although a far smaller company, also had many accomplishments. It had become one of the leading providers of open programmable digital switching systems, sold primarily to telecommunicat ions service providers worldwide, such as ATT, MCI, Sprint, and British Telecom (Tempest 1998: 15). Its value to Cisco was clear, given Ciscos desired dominance of communications technology in all facets of the industry. What businesses and industries are the companies competing in? Cisco was a major player in the IT industry. Unlike other IT companies, it did not simply dominate one area of the

My Leadership Rubric I Choose Diversity - 1126 Words

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Is The Future In Our Hands Free Essays

There are many different theories about the future, some people think that god has planned our future, but other people think that we are in control of our own future, I personally think the same. I have done some research on these theories, which follows. How many times in your life have you doubted the power of God showing in your life? How many times have you said that is this is a problem that even God cannot take care of? How many times have you remained discouraged because it did not seem that the power of the most high God was shinning through you life? Well, first , lets take a look at a certain Bible verse that should be able to reassure anyone that God is all powerful and very much in charge of this earth. We will write a custom essay sample on Is The Future In Our Hands? or any similar topic only for you Order Now † He hath made the earth by His power, He hath established the world by His wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by His understanding. † Here we see that fact that God not only created the world that we now live on, but this particular Bible verse gives us three important facts about God: Power, Wisdom and Understanding. Just take a look at the verse, it tells us that that earth was made by His power, established by His wisdom and that the heaven was made by His understanding. What other proof do you need to realize that a God that is this great is more then capable to take care of you and allow himself to be manifested in your life? A recent example of this is the tsunami in china this shows that god is very much in control of our life. People with a strong character are able to make easier their own choices. The shaping of the character depends to the unique nature of a man, environment, family, education etc. Not all people have the same personality, character and nature. So not everyone can make his/her own choice at same level. Fate and destiny-Questions always arise when one or the other is mentioned. Can we rebel against our own destiny? Can we truly decide the path we want to take in life? These are questions with no definite or final answer. Nevertheless, everything depends on our determination, our strength to defeat the obstacles we meet on our life’s journey. A lot of successful and driven people in many varied fields confess that fate seems to be against them at the launch of their career. Most of them lived completely different lives before they achieved success, and they are proud to remember those times. It was hard, many successful folks say, but nothing could have held them back as they strove to the best. They also admit that they never dared dream they would be so famous or successful. All these facts make us wonder whether an apparently pre-established fate can be modified or completely changed. And if we indeed can change fate, how can we demonstrate what we’re capable of? Could there be a way to modify the data, which composes the abstract book of life, just as easy as correcting something on a computer? And if that holds true, how do we know that there wasn’t a mistake in the first place, and our determination does not do more than merely correct it? After this research I have come to the conclusion that god controls our future, and not us. Thanks for listening today ladies and gentlemen and I bid you goodday. How to cite Is The Future In Our Hands?, Papers

The Allegory Of The Cave Essays - Platonism,

The Allegory of the Cave A report I had to do on Plato's Allegory of the Cave. Plato was born 427 B.C. and died 347 B.C. He was a pupil under Socrates. During his studies, Plato wrote the Dialogues, which are a collection of Socrates' teachings. One of the parables included in the Dialogues is "The Allegory of the Cave". "The Allegory..." symbolizes man's struggle to reach understanding and enlightenment. First of all, Plato believed that one can only learn through dialectic reasoning and open-mindedness. Humans had to travel from the visible realm of image-making and objects of sense to the intelligible or invisible realm of reasoning and understanding. "The Allegory of the Cave" symbolizes this trek and how it would look to those still in a lower realm. Plato is saying that humans are all prisoners and that the tangible world is our cave. The things which we perceive as real are actually just shadows on a wall. Just as the escaped prisoner ascends into the light of the sun, we amass knowledg e and ascend into the light of true reality: ideas in the mind. Yet, if someone goes into the light of the sun and beholds true reality and then proceeds to tell the other captives of the truth, they laugh at and ridicule the enlightened one, for the only reality they have ever known is a fuzzy shadow on a wall. They could not possibly comprehend another dimension without beholdin! g it themselves, therefore, they label the enlightened man mad. For instance, the exact thing happened to Charles Darwin. In 1837, Darwin was traveling aboard the H.M.S. Beagle in the Eastern Pacific and dropped anchor on the Galapagos Islands. Darwin found a wide array of animals. These differences in animals sparked Darwin on research, which lasted well up to his death, culminating in the publishing of The Origin of Species in 1858. He stated that had not just appeared out of thin air, but had evolved from other species through natural selection. This sparked a firestorm of criticism, for most peo ple accepted the theory of the Creation. In this way Darwin and his scientific followers parallel the escaped prisoner. They walked into the light and saw true reality. Yet when he told the imprisoned public what he saw, he was scoffed at and labeled mad, for all the prisoners know and perceive are just shadows on a wall which are just gross distortions of reality. Darwin walked the path to understanding just like the escaped prisoner in "The Allegory of the Cave." Plato's parable greatly symbolizes man's struggle to reach the light and the suffering of those left behind who are forced to sit in the dark and stare at shadows on a wall.

Could Content Writing Help You Make Ends Meet as a Writer

Could Content Writing Help You Make Ends Meet as a Writer Content could be your best chance of making up the extra income you need to keep your writing ambitions on track. So what is it and how does it work? Content is the material produced Is content the same as advertising? Its more a cross between advertising and journalism. The idea is that people are tired of constant promotional messages – buy this now! – and are becoming increasingly savvy shoppers: before they buy anything, they do loads of research online, for instance, in online forums and on social media. So to reach them, businesses now need to be part of that research process. And that means offering useful information and inspiration to support their decision-making: content. So what does content look like? Its the difference between a mortgage website that just says, check out our deals, and one that also says First-time mortgages: a handy guide for new homebuyers. Since the company is an expert in mortgages, it can tell people some useful things that will help them make a choice. In exchange, the potential customer will consent to hearing a few marketing messages and hopefully feel better disposed towards this provider. Whats the opportunity for writers? The rise of internet search as the dominant way in which consumers interact with businesses has led to a content marketing boom. Video and visual content are increasingly popular, especially in social, but written copy is still needed in huge volumes. Pretty much every business of any size needs content, and that means they need writers. For example, an airline might commission a series of destination guides. A supermarket site might want to develop a library of recipes. A business bank might offer funding tips for startups. A recruitment company might offer CV and interview advice. And so on. With all these examples, theres a strong commercial reason for doing the content: the airline wants people to buy tickets to the destinations they write about, for example. But the content still has to be editorial in flavour: if the material is too salesy it will lose its credibility. How can you get started with content work? Businesses employ a multitude of individual freelancers, freelance platforms and marketing agencies to create content on their behalf. Start What skills and experience do you need?   A background in journalism or copywriting is a great help, but many writers in the content world have no special training and have simply picked up skills and experience along the way. Any specialised knowledge or experience is a plus: a degree in

Ethics in the Workplace Essay Sample

Ethics in the Workplace Essay Sample Ethics in the Workplace Essay In order for a workplace to continue existing in harmony and have and a good dose of productivity, rules must exist. Ideally, these rules in itself must maintain the peace and are supposed to give the most optimal results possible. However, because the human factor is added to the equation, then additional systems must be put into place. Some of these systems are either encoded (or written) while others are simply understood without the need to be posted at all. All in all, these things which humans are supposed to observe and maintain in the workplace are called workplace ethics. An example of a written workplace ethic is dress code. In workplaces, corporate attires are usually considered â€Å"ethical† while your regular pajamas are not. However, as could be deduced from the statement above, some issues of â€Å"unethical behaviors† vary from workplace to workplace, since while others consider wearing corporate attires to be the ethical way of dressing when on company grounds, other companies would prefer their employees working in pajamas, or at least, in their t-shirts. Because some of the rules that guide human behaviors in the workplace vary from one to the other, most of these varying rules are coded in order for the employees to be constantly reminded of. However, there are also other workplace ethics which does not vary in between companies or workplaces. These ethical rules include respect, integrity, and honesty among others. Unlike the previous examples stated above, these ideas are what everyone inside of the workplace must imbibe an d not constantly reminded of. These ideas are essential not only for everyone, not only because they are required and expected to do so, but because it creates a better environment for everyone to produce the most optimal results without fearing that something unexpected is happening, or is coming up. To narrow down to these examples let me give one of each and describe them in a more specific manner. Honesty is one of the foremost examples of a workplace ethics. Without honesty, the workplace would simply not exist since information, data, and results should always be reported to the right channels in order to mitigate any risks or resolve any problems that might arise. Another example of an unwritten work ethic is integrity. Integrity refers to the having strong moral principles. What makes this important in understanding work ethics is that morality and ethics are very tightly knitted. Both of them came from mores (or rights) and therefore having one of these traits also means having the other one. Lastly, we have openness. This is also an important work ethics because openness also leads to better interaction and dynamics between every individual. Openness means being open to criticisms (constructive) and other ideas without prejudice which could affect ones objectivity. Following from these statements, a strong argument could be made about what constitutes a strong workplace. In order for the workplace to continually grow and succeed in reaching its goals, one could say that establishing operating rules and laws is not enough. Rules are usually for the technical and operational aspects of the company (e.g. delivery system) but are not enough to address human variable that exists in between the expected process. In line with this, it could easily be argued that an ideal workplace is one where the operating rules established are just coinciding perfectly with one’s workplaces ethics (both written and unwritten). A community where people know what to do both in their jobs as well as how to help others progresses and gains the most optimal results possible.