Redefining C.A.L.M.
Frank Fitzpatrick 06/11/2020
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“You are the sky. Everything else – it’s just the weather.”
– Pema Chodron
Many people think of calm as a passive state. Some consider it an unengaged way of being. Webster defines calm as still, or free from agitation, excitement, storms or disturbance.
I would like to frame calm a little differently. While having the capacity to find stillness and remain unagitated are inherent to experiencing a feeling of calm, I invite you to look at calm as an activated state – with a kind of heightened awareness and acute presence that might define the attributes of a great leader or heroic warrior.
Modern-day philosopher and founder of Optimize, Brian Johnson, calls this state energized-tranquility. When a person cultivates these enhanced qualities of calm, they build the capacity to stand unshaken in the face of agitation and chaos, they find confidence and stillness in the eye of the storm, and they can move steadily forward in the direction of even their greatest foe.
To help expound on this, and bearing in mind the need for heroic leadership during times of crisis, I’m going to use the acronym C.A.L.M. as our framework. The C.A.L.M. to which I’m referring has four key attributes:
I. Courage
The Latin root of the word courage (‘cor’) means “heart”. While someone can act boldly without a heart-centered connection or higher purpose, there is no true courage without heart. And there is no CALM without courage.
Ancient stoic philosophy cites courage as one of the four key virtues. Modern-day Stoic Ryan Holiday, author of The Daily Stoic and The Obstacle is the Way, describes the heroic nature of Stoic courage as the: “Courage to face misfortune. Courage to face death. Courage to risk yourself for the sake of your fellow man. Courage to hold to your principles, even when others get away with or are rewarded for disregarding theirs. Courage to speak your mind and insist on truth.”
Staying calm and confident in the face of all that, despite the presence of fear, are the virtuous marks of courage and qualities of a true leader.
Courage, by its very nature, requires a level of calm confidence – a self-trust, steadiness and deep inner connection to one’s true potential and higher self. Courage is the virtue that fuels all the other attributes of CALM.
II. Alignment
A deep sense of Alignment and CALM starts from an inner state of equanimity – our own coherence of heart, mind, body and spirit. We can connect to energize that equanimity through our breath and clarity of intention. With inner alignment as our core, there are a number of other questions we can ask ourselves to align with and lead those we serve:
Are we aligned with our purpose? With the needs of those in our care? With our higher self and the soul force within us? With the highest good for all?
When we feel truly aligned, we are able to remain calm and confident even when the course ahead is unclear and undefined, even what all those around us are reacting in fear and chaos. We are able to hold steady and stay on course, while taking in all the subtle signs and filtering out the unessential noise.
III. Love
What does love have to do with CALM? If the root of courage is in the heart, the fuel of the heart is Love. Heroic courage, and CALM, come from a deep sense of love. They are brought to life by having the strength for someone or something greater beyond ourselves. The word hero means to have the strength for two. Nothing will bring us, or communicate, a deeper sense of CALM in others, than the unwavering and heroic force our unconditional love.
From that place, absent of judgment, attachment or distraction, we are able to use our courage to encourage others. Encouragement, a great expression of love, literally means to give courage to another – to fuel their heart. Our encouragement, especially if from a place of love and calm, can help others discover their own self-trust, confidence and hope. From our own CALM we can infuse the world around us with love.
IV. Mindfulness
Mindfulness in our CALM framework is another way to describe that combination of heightened self-awareness with an acute sense of the energy around us. From a mindful state – or by seeing ourselves from our higher mind, we are able to objectively witness the fluctuations of our thoughts and the world around us. We are wise enough to observe these fluctuations without letting them define us or alter our chosen state of being.
Without mindfulness, we cannot witness whether we are thinking and acting in alignment nor lead others with compassion and courage. We cannot connect to our higher wisdom, our hearts, nor our intuition to know which action, or whether inaction, is the next best step to take. Without mindfulness, we cannot even observe whether or not we are truly CALM.
I invite you to try to experience the current state of the world, however disturbing, by cultivating a highly conscious and finely attuned state of CALM. Those that can demonstrate CALM in the eye of the storm will not only reap great personal benefits, but will emerge as the leaders and exemplars of the future for which we long.
“The true strength of a man is in calmness.”
– Leo Tolstoy
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About the Author
Frank Fitzpatrick is a Creative Visioneer, Engagement Expert and High-Performance Coach on the Faculty of Singularity University’s Exponential Medicine.
To connect, go to FrankFitzpatrick.com
To learn more about working 1-on1 with Frank, go to BeyondPerformance.Life
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