Sia: “I’m gonna swing from the chandelier. I’m gonna live like tomorrow doesn’t exist…. Feel my tears as they dry. But I’m holding on for dear life. Won’t look down, won’t open my eyes… Keep my glass full until the morning light. Cause I’m just holding on for tonight…”

Empty rooms, hallways, and a window shining light into the darkness. That’s how this deep and epic song flows with words that come out. “I Push it down; I push it down.”

The lyrics describe the sadness in its rawest form. Sia created and sang the song ‘Chandelier’ and launched it in one of her music albums a few years ago. Even today, this song makes one want to relate to the time they tried escaping from reality.

To put it simply, the song portrays a party girl who embraces a vibrant and thrilling lifestyle, relishing the attention it brings, even though she recognizes that it’s temporary and insincere.

She understands the lure of fun and excitement, which is symbolized by swinging from a chandelier as a metaphor for excessive partying.

However, amidst the exhilaration, Sia candidly acknowledges that her life isn’t solely filled with joy and excitement. It also involves pain, tears, and desperately clinging to life in any way possible.

Sia implies that whenever she attempts to escape her pain, it hardly works, and although she should have learned from it, she persists in trying. She resorts to drowning her sorrows in alcohol, attempting to live without considering the consequences. She drinks until she loses track and becomes numb.

“Funny, when you finally faced reality, it was amazing how clearly you could see things.”

~Mary Higgins Clark

Even as leaders, the need to come full circle in any situation becomes essential. For instance, many leaders feel burned out, experience depression, are demotivated, and even second-guess their life’s goals.

Why did I start this journey in the first place? It’s not working out for me. I just don’t feel complete anymore. I’ve tried and tried to be happy with what I do and even though I love doing what I do, something always seems to be missing.

Sia: “Sun is up, I’m a mess. Gotta get out now, gotta run from this. Here comes the shame, here comes the shame.”

As you can understand from her lyrics, Sia emphasizes the realization that running away and seeking solace in alcohol cannot prevent the sunrise, halt the arrival of reality, or shield her from facing the shame of the chaotic state her life has become.

There is wisdom in these words as they reflect the reality of life and what is expected of us. We feel incomplete, like the circle that has a break in it. And then come the symptoms of this break in the circle like burnout, depression, anxiety, sadness, stress, disappointments, dissatisfaction, and so on gushing in and destroying our mental and emotional equilibrium.

What people usually do to tackle such a situation is go on retreats, take a digital detox, sign up for meditation camps, or renew their visas for India – the spiritual oasis of the world. It may work but only for a short while.

“Substance-based or spirituality-based release is simply temporary. Their effect diminishes once a person gets back to work and routine life.”

So, what is truly missing?

The solution lies in removing the divide between the spiritual and secular aspects of life. Once we make our day-to-day mundane activities spiritual by holding our ground of neutrality, the approach towards work and life undergoes a paradigm shift. Instead of being driven by terror or temptations of the external world, we operate from an inner state of tranquility and transcendence.

In the process, we develop a deeper realization of who or what we truly are – Not a human being searching for divinity; but rather a divine having a human experience. Such a realization provides the stability to navigate the trials and tribulations inherent in living a fulfilled and contented life.

We are less swayed by external circumstances and fluctuations, instead drawing upon the stability and wisdom derived from our connection with the divinity within and a sense of oneness with all. This enhanced state of being allows us to navigate life’s ups and downs with greater equanimity, leading to a more harmonious and fulfilling existence.

“The more you know who you are, and what you want, the less you let things upset you.”

~Stephanie Perkins

The Frequency, Intensity, and Tenacity with which you hold onto this heightened state will complete you. That is what completes the circle and makes you Poorna (Complete) as a leader.

So, understand the true knowledge about you. Work on your FIT score to enhance your SiQ or Spiritual Quotient to learn about your true core. This is what Krescon Coaches is here to help you achieve as a leader.

It is as the great poet William Earnest Henley once wrote in his poem

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeoning of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

I am the captain of my soul.