The Law of Rhythm: Why a Bad Day Doesn’t Mean You’re Going Backwards

There is something that has popped into my mind a few times this last week, and so I thought I would run with it today and see where it takes us. That subject is the Law of Rhythm.

This idea comes from the Hermetic teachings and is described as a Universal Law that underpins how all life responds.

Essentially, it dictates that what goes up must come down.

Simple, right? But how does this help us?

First of all, let’s flip this on its head:

What is down must come up.

Much better 😃

For me, this helps shift my perspective of life.

I, like many of you, have been working hard this year to try and change my life, and to do this, I am working on changing myself.

I have been working to shift my thoughts, my feelings, and spend more time in a place of gratitude and love.

And it has been great! I have had long periods of feeling better than I have in years. With more energy, with more drive, and I have finally started making progress on some things I have been trying to work on for years.

But then there are those days where it feels like a black cloud has entered. I have felt tired, anxious, even depressed.

I am not going to lie, on these days, I have thought to myself, “Oh no, I’ve lost it. It’s gone back to how it was before.” And guess what? It makes me feel even worse.

But what I have come to realise is that this is just the Law of Rhythm in action. I have had some really great days, and so it’s OK to have a bad one.

It doesn’t mean that there is anything wrong with me. Or that all my hard work is undone. It is just a bad day.

And this could happen for one of a million reasons.

Maybe I didn’t sleep well.
Or maybe I ate something that didn’t agree with me.
Maybe it’s some kind of planetary retrograde… Again 😂
Maybe my brain chemistry has just dropped and I just need to do something to generate a little dopamine.

Or maybe, and stick with me here because this is a really radical idea, maybe it’s just a bad day…

And because this is just the Law of Rhythm in action, that means that soon enough, I will be back to good days again.

This helps me to take the pressure off myself. To stop judging myself and accept that it is what it is, and just go with the flow.

But we can take this one step further.

Perhaps life has been tough for a long time. Maybe it’s been a while since we have had a good day.

The Law of Rhythm doesn’t just operate on a day-by-day basis.

It could be a yearly cycle, or even a decade cycle.

Maybe this chapter of the journey has just been a tough one, and that’s exactly what it needed to be for us to learn and overcome.

Well, if that’s true, then it means that the Law of Rhythm will swing back the other way and you will have a period of good.

In fact, within the Hermetic teachings, there is another idea connected to the Law of Rhythm called the Law of Compensation. This suggests that the swing in one direction is balanced by the swing in the other.

So perhaps instead of looking back at a really challenging period and thinking, “Why did I have to go through that?”, we can begin to look forward and wonder just how far life might be able to swing the other way.

I really like that idea.

Combining these ideas helps me to find hope and peace. They help me to trust that no matter what is going on in life right now, things can change.

When I look at my life through this lens, I am better able to hold gratitude for the present and see a brighter vision for the future.

And it is my hope that it might perhaps do the same for you.

Sending you so much love,
David 🙏💛