A desire for more isn’t usually satisfied with more. It forever renews.
A desire for less, however, can be satisfied.
Eventually, all that will be left is what’s most useful, important, and necessary.
THIS is the desire that should be forever renewed.
The things you do daily shouldn’t be misery inducing.
They also shouldn’t be challenge-free and mind-numbing.
The things you do daily should be somewhere in the goldilocks middle.
Easy enough to show up for (even when you don’t want to); hard enough to keep you from atrophy or regression.
Get this balance wrong and you’ll either burn-out (and yo-yo) or blow out the flame of your potential.
Two consequences that are happening far too often in our society.
It’s time to level up your Goldilocks game, eh?
Have you ever been the target of a random act of kindness?
Have you ever wondered how far back the inspiration for that act goes?
Maybe not far at all.
Maybe that stranger just spontaneously acted.
Or maybe it goes back centuries… back to a medieval time when a farmer gave a homeless fellow some crops for free—just because. And they paid it forward and so did the next fellow and so on.
Maybe kindness ripples through time like waves in a pond—temporarily elevating each water particle touched by the wave until gracefully returning them back to where they started.
Maybe it’s that temporary elevation that gives us the perspective we need to carry on with a lighter heart; a more caring heart; a more kind heart.
For it is only when we are elevated that we can more clearly see what was holding us back down below. And we gain an understanding that becomes a new guiding light for when we find ourselves back down—as we inevitably will in life.
But, we are not lowered to where we started—no.
We are lowered with new eyes. Eyes that have seen and felt an existence at a higher plane. And once we see what is up above, we can’t unsee it; once we feel what is up above, we can’t unfeel it.
And maybe this is the cause of perpetual kindness. People infectiously sharing what elevated them, onward and outward to the outer banks of society and for the duration of all time.
And maybe all we need to do to activate that sometimes seemingly dormant desire is remember that beautiful perspective we each once had.
Filling our cups is hard enough.
Don’t let what liquid you’ve carefully filled go to waste.
As you would carefully and delicately place each step while walking with a brim-filled cup of blazing hot tea—so, too, should you walk throughout your day with a brim-filled cup of blazing hot human energy and potential.
…Evenly and mindfully.
Whenever possible, rather than stopping your forward momentum altogether, try slowing down instead.
One of the worst strategies for finishing a marathon is to sprint-stop-sprint-stop-sprint-stop the whole way.
When you feel yourself getting winded—adjust your pace; shorten your stride; give yourself more time to breathe.
And at all costs: delay the urge to stop.
While rest might seem like the most energy efficient decision in the moment, as physics demonstrates, keeping your body in motion is actually the most energy efficient option long-term.
So that we’re clear, I’m not advocating you never stop working.
I am advocating that you commit to a working pace that you can sustain rather than one that you have to constantly start-stop.
For example: rather than read 100 pages sporadically every month or two—commit to 10 pages per day. And if 10 pages becomes too much, don’t stop altogether. Drop it to 5 pages per day. And if that’s still too much, drop it to one page. And if that’s too much—you’re playing yourself.
Keeping the momentum alive in your daily tasks is key to efficient and effective forward movement in your life.
Starting a stopped body is much harder than keeping a body in motion.
Keep your body in motion even when (especially when) your mind wants to stop.
I am forever A seed planter Burying potential in the endless mud Of our collective mind Some will grow Many will die What comes to be Isn’t for me to judge or define I am not sun I am not nutrients I am not water I am forever a seed planter What’s planted In the mud Of your mind Is for the elements Of your life To nurture or decline
…What a beautiful mindset for getting things done long-term.
Committing to something for months/years/life can be intimidating.
But committing to today?
No problem.
Just for today: read, write, draw, exercise, meditate, etc.
And simply repeat this mindset again when you wake—tomorrow.