 Sitting in the Gap
Gap analysis is a tool often used in businesses, in economics, and by everyday people. The idea is that there’s a gap between your present situation and the desired situation you’d like to be in. You figure out where you want to go, then determine what needs to done to close the gap. Here’s a visual representation:
Present situation  Desired situation Gap
Gap analysis is simply figuring out how to close the gap.
I know a lot of really smart, clever people who used gap analysis. They accomplish great things in life. But most of them, at some point, face a problem: People who use gap analysis often realize that while they can be the most accomplished _________ (fill in the blank) in the world – there’s still a hole inside. There’s an emptiness.
Paradoxically, this emptiness can only be filled by non-being and non-doing.
To really get the most out of life, we need to spend time “being” with that emptiness on a regular basis. This will help us figure out and fill in the god-shaped hole inside us, while enabling us to see our purpose and connect to a sense of belonging in the universe.
All the chasing and attaining all the externals will never quench the inner feeling of emptiness.
That’s the human condition.
We must look on the inside and learn about ourselves.
We need to be silent and examine who we are inside. Furthermore, we must “sit in the gap” and explore what is.
There’s a quote by A. H. Almaas: Your conflicts, all the difficult things, the problematic situations in your life – they are not chance or haphazard. They are actually yours. They are specifically yours, designed specifically for you by a part of you that loves you more than anything else. The part of you that loves you more than anything else has created roadblocks to lead you to yourself. It will go to extreme measures to wake you up. It will make you suffer greatly if you don’t listen. What else can it do? That’s its purpose.
Going from “conflict” to “peace” requires you to sit in the gap – i.e., accept where you are now – and see what’s really going on inside you.
This is particularly poignant in my life as I am about to undergo prostate surgery on 3/12 and acceptance that my body produced cancerous cells that need removal is quite a concept to sit in.
Spiritual-religious advice:
Look inside, and be present to the emptiness
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