Hard Work Is The Answer, Or Is It?

1. Get in the middle of a situation where you have to decide whether you want to make you heart happy, or your future-self happy.

2. Realize that what your heart wants is idling around and enjoying at home with zero hard work or effort. Thus it strives to keep you safely tucked in your comfort zone.

3. Have a few friends tell you that they think you should go with the option that requires hard work.

4. Give in to their persuasion and accept the hard work choice.

5. Later listen to your brain telling you that all that hard work will be for nothing because that particular option steers you away from your long-term goals and pushes you towards a path of mediocrity.

6. Finally come to the conclusion that the options presented to you were rigged because there was no right choice. You were being tested for something completely different and you are yet to understand what it was.

7. Hope for the best and give in to the daily grind for no particular reason, except for working hard because “We must work hard!”, even when it leads you nowhere.

Minding Mindfulness

Mindfulness: Creating a higher rational self within your mind and training it to detect your mind’s intentions, so you can make your mind (and thus yourself) do the things that are important while cutting out the things or tasks that aren’t.

For example, being responsible is a good thing while procrastination isn’t. So a mindful person would:

1. Realize that he’s procrastinating when he is. [Identification of the good/bad activity]
2. Stop doing an activity if it’s bad and replace it with a good one

This is an excellent solution to keep ourselves away from our harmful habits except, you know what, IT IS FREAKIN’ HARD!

Turns out, controlling your brain is like trying to convince a religious person that there is no God. Or trying to tell a feminist that women and men are not 100% identical (their chromosomes for example). Or politely telling your child to stop their incessant screaming. Or trying to build a wall that can protect you from a hurricane.

Me to mind: “I know what you’re up to and I order you to stop it this instant!”

Mind: [simply pushes me out of its way with one light motion of its hand and walks away from me]