Solutions for Air-Gone-Wrong
In my recent post Personality Flaws of the Four Elements I described ways the 4 Elements can go wrong, each according to its own nature.
How To Know If Air Has You Lost In A Cloud
Air is the intellectual element and we all know that a mind is a terrible thing to waste—yet it is also possible to use your mind too much, for example in times when your heart or body would serve better. Your Air has gone wrong when:
- You retreat to your head so much and get so abstracted that people around you wonder where you’ve gone and call you an “absent-minded professor.”
- Physical reality annoys you. You are frustrated at how hard it is to turn a theory into a reality—why can’t things just be the way you think they should? And so you criticize things and people that don’t live up to your ideals.
- Your need to appear smart has overreached your ability to actually converse with others, share ideas and be genuinely curious about perspectives that differ from your own. This alienates you from people, which is a shame because stimulating conversation is exciting to you.
- Your school success didn’t translate into the world beyond academics and you are still wondering why intelligence and problem-solving abilities aren’t enough to bring recognition and career advancement.
- People call you cold or unapproachable (even though you have a sparkling wit) because you have little warmth.
Solution One: Balance Air With The Other 3 Elements
If your Air is distorted, the other elements can help restore balance. The natural antidote for the coolness and excessive objectivity of Air is the warmth and emotional approachability of Water. When your Airy side causes you to distance yourself from events around you, draw on your Watery side and involve yourself emotionally in what you are experiencing (even though your Airy side may find this uncomfortable).
Earth helps Air move from the theoretical to the practical. Earth demands that Air’s ideas be implemented in ways that are useful and pragmatic. Earth physicalizes Air’s theories, tests them and proves their effectiveness.
Fire brings to Air a much-needed enthusiasm. There comes a time when thought necessarily leads to action and while Air could sit around the planning table endlessly batting ideas about, Fire will leap in and begin a thing. This may lead to failure the first or even the hundredth time, but Fire knows the importance of taking action.
Solution Two: Emphasize Healthy Air
If you emphasize healthy Air and fill your life with ways your Air is positively expressed, there will be no room for unhealthy Air. This elegant solution gently allows negative Air traits to fall away as a side-effect of your emphasis on positive Air. You might call this solution “Air -Fu.” Here are some examples:
- Be endlessly curious. Become a reservoir, a roundhouse for information. Regard all data as potentially useful.
- Air may not be very warm and fuzzy, but it is very social. Make friends—lots of them—and bond with them around mutually interesting concepts and theories.
- Share ideas with absolutely everyone, regardless of how “smart” they are or how well-researched their information is. Treasure each new nugget you learn.
- Use your capacity for distancing yourself to help you connect with others, not push them away. Because intimacy includes appropriate space, you can find the right distance to make you comfortable with intimacy.
- Meditate. It gives the brain a much-needed break.
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Coming up next: Are You Drowning In Water?
