#513 And every day, we show up and fight

If I don’t write the post I intended to write, I actively avoid the desired result of my writing.

If I don’t do the workout I intended to do, I actively avoid the desired result of my workout (being in better shape, running a new PR,…)

If I don’t have the difficult conversation I intended to have, I actively avoid the desired result of that conversation.

Inaction is not the lack of action.

Inaction is taking active action to avoid working towards the result you desire.

The real question, then, is:

Why do I actively avoid working toward a desired result?

Am I worried that even if I write daily, I’ll never become a skilled writer?

Am I worried I won’t enjoy writing anymore if I ever get recognition?

Am I worried that writing every day will turn me into a skilled writer, but being a professional writer won’t be fulfilling?

P.S. I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that I only have a limited repertoire of examples in this newsletter, my friend

I trust you to apply the insight to your situation.

And maybe, when you’re pondering the question above, you’ll come to the same conclusion as me:

That more often than not, I’m more interested in the comfort of “wanting” something I don’t have than in “taking action to get something.”

A compelling vision of who I want to be doesn’t just guide my present actions and brings me toward a fulfilling future.

It also helps me deal with the suffering that’s part of living in a complex physical body with a complex mind in a complex society in a complex, uncontrollable world.

Because no matter how strong my vision or purpose is, and no matter what I do or say, inevitable hardship will happen anyway.

So if I know why I’m doing what I do, why I’m going where I go, and why I’m becoming who I want to be, then hopefully, when life gets rough, I’ll react in a better way.

I’ll trust myself to handle the unavoidable suffering.

I’ll trust myself to minimize how much I add to the suffering.

And that makes the future just a little bit brighter for me, everyone, and everything around me.

We all live in a maze of mistranslations and misunderstandings about who we think you are and who others think we are.

Now, by lack of a way to know who we truly are, misunderstandings can be comforting, my friend; there’s no doubt about that.

But when you get so lost in the maze that it causes suffering, it might be time to start mending the misunderstandings.

Could it be that mending is nothing more than making another mistranslation about who we are that makes us happier?

After all, I can perceive myself as a struggling writer or a skilled wordsmith – both perspectives hold their truths.

It’s the power of our misunderstandings that molds our reality.

You see how few things you have to do to live a satisfying and reverent life?

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

But what are those few things that lead to a satisfying life?

Do we decide ourselves, or let others – or society – decide for us?

Envision, want, choose.