I used to have a tendency to take an ‘all-or-nothing’ approach to things. If I’m honest, it’s something I still have to watch out for.
Take running for example. I love long distance running and it goes without saying that doing so requires maintaining a certain level of fitness. When I’ve had to scale back my running due to injury or illness in the past, instead of reducing my distance or finding other ways to maintain my fitness, I have simply stopped exercising altogether. If I can’t run at my ideal intensity, my mind tries to tell me that I may as well do nothing at all.
I have had similar conversations with myself about meditation. If I don’t have time to do a longer seated meditation my mind argues that, instead of simply doing a shorter meditation, I may as well do nothing. My mind’s illogical reasoning seems to be that if I can’t do it ‘properly’ I won’t do it at all.
As irrational as this type of thinking is, I think it stems from living in a culture that tells us we should be constantly striving for ‘success’, aiming high, achieving big things. In this context, taking small, consistent, manageable steps doesn’t sound particularly glamorous or ground breaking. If anything it sounds rather mediocre. With the bar always set so high perhaps it’s no wonder that we might be tempted to think that there’s no point getting started if we can’t do something exactly as we’d like to from the outset. It turns out, however, that consistently doing something, no matter how small, can be enormously powerful.
It may feel pointless and uninspiring to go for a walk when you’d rather be running, or to incorporate a couple of mini meditations into your day rather than a longer seated meditation, but the power of little things done regularly is much greater and more rewarding than you might think.
As Rick Hanson, the author of ‘Hardwiring Happiness’ and ‘Buddha’s Brain’ says:
“Don’t underestimate the power of little things. A small thing repeated each day adds up over time to produce big results. A small thing that is in your power to do – in a world in which so many things are not – could change your life”.
I’m currently re-doing a 5km-running program when I’d far rather be training for a longer distance. I’ve discovered, however, that it is so much more empowering, not to mention enjoyable, to be outside doing the modest amount of running I am doing than sitting on the couch ruminating. The same goes for meditation – or anything else for that matter – it may not feel earth shattering but a little, over time, can go a long way.
As is so often the case the Buddha put it beautifully – “Think not lightly of good, saying, ‘It will never come to me’. Drop by drop the water pot is filled. Likewise the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.”
