“Never mistake motion for action,” said Ernest Hemingway.
The fact that we remain busy through the day doesn’t mean we are progressing.
Positive movement requires that we ruthlessly prioritize, step back to reflect, seek feedback from people we trust and act purposefully.
Handwritten notes from my journal
As a kid, I once adamantly demanded some stuff that my friends had. My mom took me to the balcony and pointed at a nearby construction site where kids of the laborers were playing bare feet in scorching heat, and were still smiling.
I was taught that when our mind is clouded with comparison, look carefully at what we have and be grateful about it. Understand that each of us has been bestowed with unique gifts. The paths we take, our context, the way we look at life, our conditioning – everything is different. How can our destinations (and the speed at which we reach those destinations) be same?
In a world driven by comparison, be compassionate. Comparison steals the joy. The act of comparing is the act of undermining ourselves.
Less Comparison. More Compassion. More Gratitude.
It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come to our real work,
and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.
– Wendell Berry
Thirty spokes are joined together in a wheel,
but it is the center hole
that allows the wheel to function.We mold clay into a pot,
but it is the emptiness inside
that makes the vessel useful.We fashion wood for a house,
but it is the emptiness inside
that makes it livable.We work with the substantial,
but the emptiness is what we use.Laozi Tao Te Ching 11
