There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;
There will be time to murder and create,
And time for all the works and days of hands
That lift and drop a question on your plate;
Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast and tea.
-T.S. Elliott
Everyone has a limit. We can only take so much stress--so much load, so many bad nights of sleep, so many small cuts--before our whole system crashes. Luckily (and unluckily) for us, that limit is unknown. There are unpredictable factors that make determination of it impossible. The synergy of genetics, social networks, tenacity, and faith, to name just a few. All too often, we perceive our demands as bigger than they actually are, and through that perception they grow even more. Lifting heavy things is as much about the mind as it is about the body--maybe more.
The surest way to fail is to never try. The second surest way is to not believe that you can succeed. Thus, we find ourselves giving up long before necessary. We do so out of desire for comfort. Trying harder is stressful. It requires discomfort--a lot of it. Most of the time we give up or change our minds first. This keeps us from committing fully. Knowing that we weren't fully committed is like balm to our ego, which survives on excuses. We just didn't want it enough. That's all.
The only way to grow is to venture just outside of comfort. Every child does this when they learn to walk. Each step is an exhilarating journey into the unknown. Why do we lose this daring as we age? What is it about being out of control that we so fear? If what we truly want is just on the other side of that fear, then how do we actually face it?
We all have the potential to lift heavy things. The only object standing in the way is ourselves. What is required is a steady commitment towards a path. By staying on the same path, eventually we circle the globe and return to where we began, wiser for having walked the entire distance. However, if we quit too soon and take a turn, and then another, and another, pretty soon we will be back to our origin, but with much less wisdom. We will have just walked a much smaller circle. Put into practice, this advice means that we follow choices to their completion even when (especially when) things get tough.
At the first major sign of doubt we will be tempted to quit. Our thoughts will spin. Maybe we made a mistake. Maybe we can't handle this right now--perhaps later, but definitely not now. Who do we think we are? If we have been deliberately approaching the right path one step at a time, then these doubts are unfounded. The moment that they appear it is important to implement one rule--we must witness. Witness what happens when we don't immediately believe our apprehension. Witness what happens when we move into action instead of stall in fear. Stalling robs us of energy.
Once the weight has been lifted we must remember to rest. Continual stress will break down even the most able of subjects. Rest is the other half of action. It is when we gather resources and reflect on strategy. It is a time of reorganization and repair. All growth depends on both work and rest. Heavy lifting requires that we put down the weight when we want to--methodically and intentionally. Only a fool carries what does them no good. Save the energy for the next time.
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