Vedantic Wednesday: Focus on the doing, not the quantum
We all want to save money, but the excuse we give yourselves is that we will do that when we start earning a lot. But the reality is ‘saving’ is a habit and has to be cultivated. It is easier to feel good saving a few thousand rupees or a few hundred rupees every month, than looking at placing fixed deposits for a hundred thousand every time. The most important thing is routine doing or habit, not really the quantum. But the mind asks, what are you going to become by saving so little? Wait and you can always save in larger quantities; at least it makes financial sense!
The same goes with exercise. What if you can’t go to the gymnasium every day? Why can’t you start by going for a walk every day? Why can’t you start by going for a walk every alternate day? Even better why can’t you start by going for a walk every Sunday? No! I am not joking. The more infrequent the periodicity, the easier it should be to follow. But the mind asserts itself and convinces you saying that it really is not going to have any effect if you walk once a week. Absolutely! The reasoning is right. You are not going to lose weight walking once a week, but it is easiest to start a habit doing that, than waiting to join a gymnasium and go every day.
In every aspect of our lives we do this mistake of not creating routines and getting started with action. Rather we will wait to have the perfect way to get started and end up not getting started at all or in too many failed starts. Why does this happen? Because doing is a habit, it requires a routine, which is easiest to start when the quantum is small. But the mind does not like small quantities of anything. Hence it dissuades you from getting into action and more so in building little routines.
Spirituality in its core is all about building routines, that too consciously. To make this happen one needs to be alert to the functioning of the mind and the intellect. Once we become aware we realize that in life action matters, not the quantum, results matter, not the quantum, happiness matter, not the quantum. We will become Child-like! We will become joyful at everything. We will be excited to do even little things as though they are the biggest things. The child is able to do this. We are not, because we have lost the fundamental ability to think clearly.
Try doing little routines daily – and watch your mind revolt, give you reasons, justify and convince you as to why it is not worth doing it. It is an experience worth experimenting!
Think about it!
