Monday, December 18, 2023
If you take away what seems like the opposing force, you also remove the joy that comes with effort. The enjoyment of anything is only possible by the effort it takes. Work is a naughty word, but if you drill down into it, you’ll see that work is not your foe but indeed your necessary friend. Marcus Aurelius would say that the obstacle is the way. It’s the only way. When riding a bike, the so-called challenge is to “overcome” gravity and not fall. But you don’t overcome it, you dance with it. Aerodynamics works with gravity and wind resistance to create lift. It uses the laws of opposition to “work.” Your very life uses the laws of opposition to work. Why? So you might have joy in all that you do!
You could outsource everything that you considered work, a burden or an obligation, and you’d still have work, a burden, and obligations. If you wanted to lounge around in bed all the time and “do nothing,” you’d begin to have an opposing force – hunger, boredom, restlessness, etc. You cannot escape effort, you cannot escape resistance, and you cannot escape obligation. These are the passageways to joy, but your life is not a means to an end, but a dance in the present moment. Take away the effort, and you take away the joy of living! It’s an effort to be awake. It’s an effort to go to sleep. It’s an effort to mine for ideas in tough situations. It’s an effort to be alive, but it is through effort that we find joy, meaning, and truth. Find the opposition, dance with it, and work in tandem with the truth of living joyfully. There is joy in everything that requires effort. The more effort, the more joy! There is always work to be done – thankfully!