On your journey to self-mastery, you will sooner or later encounter paradoxes. The contradictory nature of a paradox often leads to frustration and confusion. You will be tempted to “choose a side” as it were and reject new conflicting information. That’s because to hold conflicting ideas in your head requires a good deal of mental effort and concentration, but if you can keep those thoughts in your head long enough to resolve the paradox, the reward is nothing short of an epiphany. In my own journey, I’ve found that most paradoxes can be resolved by one of the following 3 paradigm shifts. I’ll start by giving an example situation for each one.
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If you are into self-development as I am, you will inevitably come across advice emphasizing the need to take massive action, to set ambitious goals, and to become dissatisfied with your current condition to amp up your motivation. On the flip side, you will also come across advice extolling the virtues of preserving your peace of mind, being grateful for what you have, and trying not to burn out. So which is it? Which is the more effective self-development strategy? The answer is both and neither.
Paradigm Shift #1: Nature is cyclical. This was the point I tried to get across in my post “Go Crazy, Find Peace, Go Crazy All Over Again.” Just as a weight-lifter will actually build more muscle by taking a break between sets, you will be a more effective person if you alternate periods of gratitude with concentrated action directed at breaking out of your limitations. Consequently, this is also the basis for what I believe to be the ultimate fate of the universe. In school I was taught that our universe would likely end in either a Big Freeze or a Big Crunch. I think it is more likely that we live amidst a “Big Cycle” (of never-ending expansion and contraction).
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How about the conflicting philosophies embodied in the phrases carpe diem vis-a-vis slow and steady wins the race? It’s true. Life is short. You do only live once. Therefore you should always seize the day! But at the same time life is long. You do have to live with the consequences of your actions. Therefore you should always delay your gratification for greater rewards down the road! So which is it? To live by one philosophy would lead to disaster, and to live by the other would lead to misery. The answer is both and neither.
Paradigm Shift #2: The distinction is one of short-term versus long-term. Your thoughts and behaviors should be directed towards both short-term pleasure as well as long-term rewards. That means, taking small actions each day to keep your house in order like handling your finances, working out, eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, and getting adequate sleep. Then go have fun. Buy some nice clothes for yourself. Go out and party it up with your friends. Let loose. You deserve it. Don’t wait for your life to be in perfect condition before you enjoy yourself, but do wait for it to be in a form that can actually sustain you. The last thing you want is to lose your health, your job, or the roof over your head because you didn’t take care of what was necessary before you seized the day.
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Human beings often feel they are masters of their domain, masters of their environment, and masters over their own fate. I have to admit, that is the feeling I often try to cultivate in myself and in readers of my blog. But when you look out at the night sky, knowing that there are around 200 billion stars in each of approximately 200 billion galaxies in the observable universe which itself may be just one of many universes in a potentially 11-dimensional multiverse, reality can be a lot more sobering. So are we important or aren’t we? The answer, of course, is both and neither.
Paradigm Shift #3: It’s all relative. The late Bruce Lee rejected the label of “master” and instead preferred “student-master.” He knew that to take on the identity of a master would mean he would stop learning. He would become arrogant and self-satisfied. Instead, he sought to learn something from everyone, including his students. In this way, he was always better than the next man and the next man was always better than him. Bruce Lee chose to take the journey to mastery in the martial arts, a journey that only ends as he put it, “when they close the casket.”
Choose to Take the Journey 
Often what happens in the universe is reflected also in humanity, by following what the universe is doing individuals will more likely be on the correct road, for instance thinking in terms of the cyclic nature of things, as you mention.
One principle that I find myself coming back to again and again and again is aligning your thoughts and actions with nature, both Mother Nature as well as your own nature.
It is a good principle to follow.