Nothing to change, July 2007
I've been considering how important intention is. "It's all about your intention," the teachers say. I didn't quite get it until I found this quote by Gandhi:
“It's the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there will be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.”We all want to be perfect now. Be happy. Be financially secure. Be in love. Be loved. Be healthy. . . . All these "be's" form a humming hive. They swarm together at times and dominate our attention. (You have to keep an eye on "be's.") They are industrious and focused and they take us away from enjoying the life we have in front of us. Look away from that hive and notice how enormous the world is. How huge life is!
Each of these be's is a goal. Short term goals like paying off a debt or losing weight. Long term goals like writing a book. We all have them or we at least feel like we should have them and beat ourselves up because we don't. (Never mind what we do when we don't achieve our goals!)
Today, I feel like putting my goals into perspective, like perhaps they have become my tyrants taking my focus off the true prize of this gift we all have to exist in this life. (Insert references to Seligman and positive psychology here!)
I've chosen mindfulness as the path to the present. Mindfulness guided by my intentions. But what exactly are my intentions? I haven't really thought about this! They have to be simple, behind the scenes, like scent of lilacs in summer. How about this for a start?
I intend to be kind to others and myself.I've italicized "and myself" because I think we are often least kind to ourselves in this life. I mean the whole premise of being born in sin is more than just a lesson from Christian theology, it is a reflection of how many of us (most?) look at ourselves. I am not good enough right now; I need to fix something.
What if we change this belief to I am perfect; I love myself the way I am? And then get on with the business of treating ourselves like we are.
“It's the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there will be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.”-----
4 comments:
i think we have to accept and acknowledge our imperfections - should we fight them? I don't know. Maybe if they are harming us or others
I agree that actions are important - even if you cant see the end results
"Be" as a state-of-being verb has a whole new connotation now. So smart. Such good advice.
I'd find it hard to think of myself as perfect, but most of the time I'm ok with who I am. The difficulty is that if I think I'm perfect, I deny the possibility of becoming better. The distinction between believing I need to fix something about myself and seeing opportunities to become better might seem semantic, but in practice I find it important. It's rather like the difference between believing I'm not good enough and believing I can become better.
Gandhi was wrong about doing nothing, though. Sometimes doing nothing can be precisely the right thing to do. I guess what he meant was "not doing the right thing" — but sometimes the right thing is to refuse to take part in wrong action (but you can see where this discussion could lead...)
Excellent, thought-provoking post, Michael, and a simple, beautiful photograph that reminds me of warmer days.
Thank you for your comments, friends.
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