As is usual with any letter, the KISSES come at the end. First, I'd like to talk about my most favourite toy in the whole world.
The KALEIDOSCOPE is a simple tube with an eyepiece to peer through at one end. As the other end is rotated, wonderful visions are revealed inside the 'scope: an endless sequence of brilliant colours arranged in an ever-changing complexity of patterns.
It always delights me and draws a smile from my heart, as I imagine the variations to be whole universes exploding into each other. I fall deeper and deeper into an enthralling feeling of wonder... Then someone always has point out that at the business end of the 'scope there is nothing but a mirror and a few loose bits of odd-shaped plastic.
But that deflating observation also illustrates a fundamental principle: everything around us is just like the KALEIDOSCOPE. However complicated things appear to be, there are always just a few simple factors at play.
At those times when all is going well, who cares? Indeed, we can just sit back and enjoy the show. But when things are not going too well for us, that's when recalling this principle can be most useful. And this is where the KISS comes in. As an acronym, KISS stands for Keep It Simple Steve. That's my aim with all the practical methods outlined in this "A to Z" series.
I also encourage you to experiment (as I do) and discover for yourself the profound depths hidden within these simple ideas. Sometimes, as we experiment, we end up adding complications that actually obscure our aim.
The feeling we get when things have become more complicated than they need to be is the feeling of "this is not working for me!" Indeed, nothing can work if we have lost touch with the simple principles that drive it. So, whenever we fall into that feeling of "this does not work", it's time for a KISS, to Keep It Sweetly Simple.
Like real kisses, KISS kisses can be done in all sorts of ways. And, as we learned as teenagers, in kissing there are Three Steps To Heaven:
Step one is always to stop whatever you were doing; a great kiss requires total devotion. This should be easy, since whatever you were doing was not working anyway.
Step two of the kiss is the melting moment. This can be anything you like: a luxurious bubble bath, or headphones on for your favourite music, or a round of your preferred sport... anything to get you out of the tangle of thoughts in your head. Personally, I prefer a walk in the countryside: if it's sunny, that melts away any bother and frustration; if it's rainy that dissolves them; and a breeze will blow them away as if they were never there.
Step three is the kiss proper, keeping it sweetly simple. Revisit the basics of whatever you were struggling with. Get clear again about what you are doing and why. Often, we find we missed something in our eagerness to get started, or we may now see it in a new light. Sometimes, we even see that it's time to kiss something "goodbye" and try something else.
A little kiss can melt away huge problems, and we can enjoy one in any moment when things are looking tough.
*****
Next, we will be looking at something just as pleasurable as KISSES.
This post is part of "An A to Z for Success". See the side panel on the right for an index.