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Deal with a thing while it is still nothing sounds easy enough. Or does it? When I encounter folks lamenting how they get side tracked off yoga, I suggest they do just one posture a day conscientiously! Simply doing those few minutes of yoga would permit their 'yoga dream' to happen naturally. Does this really work; do they do it?
Yes, just as a tree that can fill the span of a man's arms grows from a downy tip, one posture a day will grow to span one's life. But, I have met few (or any?) who have succeeded in following this easy path. An 'all or nothing' desire seems to drive our lives instead. Perhaps this is why simple things are very easy to understand and very easy to put into practice, yet no one in the world can understand them or put them into practice.
This 'all or nothing' desire plays a role in everything we do. It is fascinating to behold the difficulty we have with this, given our delusional belief in free will
. Clearly having too many desires is the enemy of 'free will'. Of course, having desires is also the 'energy' source for life's activity. And what is 'too many'? Desire: too have or not to have?Typically we want to have it both ways: The pleasures which following our desires promises, yet the tranquility which comes from having as few desires as possible. Naturally, having it both ways is impossible, so 'all or nothing' appears to be the alternative we often 'choose'. Surely, the only other option is to savor the moment as it passes from beneath our feet. Then, it is easy to deal with situations before symptoms develop,... step by easy step. Who knows, perhaps we can even cease to desire and remain still now and then.
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- CommentAuthorLynn Cornish
- CommentTimeMay 12th 2007 edited
And what is 'too many'?
That really varies from person to person. Too many for you may be not enough for someone else. I have a friend who wants to go and do everything. She complained to me that she's too busy so I asked her why does she say yes to all these things and she answered "because I want to do all of them!" So there you go! Come to think of it, my whole family is a bunch of contented homebodies, so maybe it's just a combination of nature and nurture that determines how many is too many.
Too many for what? Well, just enough to be lively but not suffer all that much.
To deal with a thing while is it still nothing is such good advice, like a stitch in time saves nine, something I never do. Well, not never. I can remember one situation where Sidney our border collie chased my car down the driveway to Jamestown Road. He did that once. After that, whenever I was leaving I made sure he was confined to the house so that he didn't develop the habit. I dealt with it while it was still nothing only because his life was at risk and I am responsible for his safety. It was a wise thing to do.
Don't you think that, besides our natural tendency not to deal with things while they're nothing, that the hardest part is recognizing the need? It takes a lot of wisdom to see that something that is still nothing needs to be dealt with. I'm thinking of human relationships or even foreign policy...it takes a whole lot of sensitivity to perceive a need before it becomes apparent. Sensitivity or maybe psychic powers!
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Lynn Cornish:
... the hardest part is recognizing the need? It takes a lot of wisdom to see that something that is still nothing needs to be dealt with.
You bet! There in lies the advantage of age. It takes years and years to stumble our way through life's circumstances, and in our stumbling we learn, gain in
maturity, and wisdom deepens. So, I suppose wisdom is just another word for perspective - seeing the forest in spite of the trees (i.e., mysterious sameness). When all we see in life are the 'trees', we keep bumping into them,... or cutting them down.
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