One Way by The Levellers

Photo by Brendan Church on Unsplash

There’s only one way of life … and that’s your own.

The opening lyrics to The Levellers anthemic One Way. I guess if we accept this premise then the challenge is which way? It’s perfectly portrayed in the picture above, one way is a direction, but there is often more than one way to choose and commit too.

If you drive, then there may have been times when you’ve taken a wrong turn and then found yourself in a one way system heading in a direction which instinctively seems wrong. The song shows how we may also find this metaphor all too familiar in life:

I looked down onto my life … Then to all my friends on the starting line, their wages off to chase … And all the bloody waste.

We may have decided a route at some point but then before we know it, we’ve travelled so far off route that we wonder how we find ourselves in the place we are now in. It can be a depressing place, and acknowledging it may lead to you feeling:

And we choked on our dreams. We wrestled with our fears. Running through the heartless concrete streets, chasing our ideas.

It can also be a tired place when life just happens, and you have to respond and then feel a little lost. I’ve known that feeling myself recently and so last week took some time out to rest, recuperate, and refocus in the sunny climate of Rhodes. Reflecting the lyrics of the song, it was a time to stop running and reassess.

Whilst away I listened to a podcast by a clinical psychologist and authority in positive psychology Dr Tim Sharp (aka Dr Happy!). One of the things he highlights in his work is that unless we are intentional about where we want to end up, then we are likely to end up somewhere we don’t want to be. His suggestion is that we try creating a personal vision board. It’s not a suggestion that we can create a perfect life in which we will always be happy, but a recognition that we can take responsibility for deciding our direction in life.

His second step is when we know our planned ideal destination, we start to create a map of how we might get there through setting achievable micro goals. This is the bread and butter work of life coaching. It all sounds really obvious, but if you’re anything like me, it’s all too important that every now and again I stop and take the time to review where I am and where I want to be. Without doing this, then there is every chance the one way we might find ourselves adopting won’t be that of our own.

Need some help achieving your good life? Why not consider booking an appointment with the author, Dr Dave Wood?

One Way is taken from the album Levelling the Land.