10-31-2014, 12:00 AM
I cannot tell you how many times I have set out or planned to do something, failed to follow through for any number of reasons, and have then put myself down due to my failure.
Resolutions fail. Resolutions are the lip-service of the ego making breakable promises. The swindle is that if we think or fantasize about what we will do, then we won't have to make an effort since we planned it all out already!
As an example, let us say that one of us has planned to go and do some cardio and then some tai chi at the park. The mind butters us up about how awesomely disciplined we will be when we do this. And then we jump right into it when we get to the park, only we seem to be unable to go nearly as long as we had hoped. We stop, legs hurting, and say to ourselves 'failed again'.
On the other hand, we go to the park and stay calm. We do not take our plans so seriously, and instead of franticly starting cardio right away, we pause. We drop to the ground for a minute, and then begin to stretch and breath. Part of us wants to get on with the cardio before it gets too late. But our body just wants to stretch. So we stretch, and breath, perfectly happy to do so for the entire session if necessary.
When we are done stretching, we get on with our cardio, and exceed our expectations, while ending with a joyful tai chi session.
It is unfortunate that society has taught us that being a good, disciplined, hard worker is following a predictable routine. There is of course, a part of us that is wild, and there is no way we can honor a routine or resolution all of the time. The game is rigged, we seemingly 'fail' or cannot follow through every time, and when we do the mind abuses us with endless cynical thinking.
Sometimes we have to follow a plan, but the plan never has to be set in stone. When we set out to do something and our minds tell us we may fail we have to shrug our shoulders and say "So?"
The foreign installation either lavishly butters us up and deludes us into thinking we will do great things, or it is endlessly cynical. It does everything it can to prevent us from discovering that there is joy in putting forth an effort and doing the work itself, failure is irrelevent, and success is an end point to the battle or journey; merely icing on the cake. Success comes in many forms, not always what we expected it to be.
Resolutions fail. Resolutions are the lip-service of the ego making breakable promises. The swindle is that if we think or fantasize about what we will do, then we won't have to make an effort since we planned it all out already!
As an example, let us say that one of us has planned to go and do some cardio and then some tai chi at the park. The mind butters us up about how awesomely disciplined we will be when we do this. And then we jump right into it when we get to the park, only we seem to be unable to go nearly as long as we had hoped. We stop, legs hurting, and say to ourselves 'failed again'.
On the other hand, we go to the park and stay calm. We do not take our plans so seriously, and instead of franticly starting cardio right away, we pause. We drop to the ground for a minute, and then begin to stretch and breath. Part of us wants to get on with the cardio before it gets too late. But our body just wants to stretch. So we stretch, and breath, perfectly happy to do so for the entire session if necessary.
When we are done stretching, we get on with our cardio, and exceed our expectations, while ending with a joyful tai chi session.
It is unfortunate that society has taught us that being a good, disciplined, hard worker is following a predictable routine. There is of course, a part of us that is wild, and there is no way we can honor a routine or resolution all of the time. The game is rigged, we seemingly 'fail' or cannot follow through every time, and when we do the mind abuses us with endless cynical thinking.
Sometimes we have to follow a plan, but the plan never has to be set in stone. When we set out to do something and our minds tell us we may fail we have to shrug our shoulders and say "So?"
The foreign installation either lavishly butters us up and deludes us into thinking we will do great things, or it is endlessly cynical. It does everything it can to prevent us from discovering that there is joy in putting forth an effort and doing the work itself, failure is irrelevent, and success is an end point to the battle or journey; merely icing on the cake. Success comes in many forms, not always what we expected it to be.