I guide my car into my parking space, get out, shut the door and glance down at the asphalt. I tend to check the asphalt beside my car ever since someone demolished my old pair of glasses at that very spot a few weeks ago. Not sure who that was …

Anyway, there between my space and my neighbor’s is one of those elastic ponytail holders. It’s white, and remarkably so for being on the ground in the midst of summer for God knows how long. It slips into my awareness, but only for a fleeting moment. It is, after all, only a stray ponytail holder and I have weighty work matters on my mind.

On my way out the door that evening, I’m stymied by window washers blocking the way along the actual sidewalk, so I’m forced to climb two steps to the Grand Poobah parking area. Deep in thought, I make my way there, eyes cast absently downward. And there, on the second step, is one of those elastic ponytail holders. It’s black, and it doesn’t just slip into my awareness, it announces its presence with giant, flashing neon arrows. Or so it seems.

In other words, the Quantum Flirt of ponytail holders catches my attention, yet again. A white one this morning, a black one tonight. One entering, one exiting. One pre-work and one post-work.

Reaching my car, I notice the white elastic band is still there. As I drive away, my mind immediately begins seeking patterns, fishing for the meaning or message laid out before me. The synchronicity of finding something that both pushes and pulls – opposite yet not – can surely inform whatever is coloring my world at the moment.

What coalesces for me is an interesting yin and yang, a balancing of energy. That’s because what’s active in my world in this moment is a tumultuous workplace in the throes of change, a shifting of focus, a changing of the guard, a return, in some ways, to roots. There’s the push – the desire to move on to what’s next and what beckons, to lay down what no longer serves or resonates. And the pull? The need to bring full circle what lingers, what is started yet unfinished.

As the slender thread of awareness blossoms, I realize there’s more – a second thread that’s similar in so many ways. There’s a personal shifting of focus toward what the future might look like once retirement beckons in a few years. It’s an expansive, energetic place, and I’m loving what it means for me, although I recognize the push and pull of balancing reality with possibilities. I’m not surprised my Quantum Flirt is so suggestive of the yin and yang – the black and white of balance.

In the end, it’s affirming to embrace the message I’ve uncovered:

• To balance the shifting of my energies from one work position to a new one in a different area – enjoying the meaningful parts of what’s beginning as well as what’s ending, embracing similarities and honoring differences.
• To balance the shifting of attention from work to what will come after work — something that’s already beginning to manifest – and discovering how to create new heart and soul while remaining fully engaged in the moment.

Yin and Yang. Black ponytail holder and white ponytail holder. What a great lesson.