It’s a short one from me today–
I guess what I want to write about today is a bit of an observation that I’ve made recently due to the way my life is structured at present. It’s a comforting thought, particularly when I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed.
It is that life is built up of countless, little pieces, baby steps as we often like to call them. Every giant obstacle, challenge, difficulty, is composed simply of a bunch of smaller ones. Not nearly as big a deal as we make it to be.
A thousand pieces together is far more overwhelming than one by itself. (Photo credit: madth3)
You can break anything down into smaller chunks. If we learn to separate the pieces, or even just look at the whole thing not as one, but as many, your whole outlook on life changes. I’m slowly discovering this – there really isn’t so much that I need to worry about after all. My problems aren’t as hard to tackle. And best of all, I’m not so stressed about the mountain that I have to climb, but rather the couple of hills that won’t take so long to walk across.
The challenge, though, is that in the midst of a panicked mindset, it’s hard to discern the differences between many small problems, and one gigantic one. Believe me, I know. It all just looms over you. This is why things like these take time (I’m learning about that even as you read this). My advice is to slowwww down and take life a bit more slowly. Try to see where your mind is playing tricks on you and building up something that in reality isn’t so bad.
Anyway, more on this tomorrow, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter!
–mrprose
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This resonates with me. To keep the baby metaphor going, our minds are often like unruly children demanding that they get what they want exactly when they want it. This sets us up for disappoinent, however, because this is not the reality of life. When we realize that life is like a motion picture, passing one frame at a time one frame after another after another, we realize that the moment, THIS moment, is all we have until the moment passes and another new moment arises holding yet another universe of new possibilities-until it passes and the next new momemt arises holding yet another new world of possibilities within it ,ad infinitum. Treasure each moment that arises and the possibilities each single, separate moment holds. They are the bazillion baby steps that are your real life and that will bring you lasting joy. Demandingness of mind is like the man who only LOOKS. He misses so much of life and never SEES the reality of life.
So, so, so true, and I really appreciate that you enjoyed my piece. In fact, the things that you say are inspiring me to do a blog piece in the near future about just that – this very exact moment.
I completely agree with the blog and this comment above. Everything looks better bitesize. And you can only take one step at a time, make that a small one, easier that way. It works for me.
I think it works for everyone that discovers it. I think it is a super valuable technique for life. But understanding and truly experiencing that perspective are two totally different things.
I think this, too! Except for, sometimes the steps seem to be a repeated cycle… but it gets harder and harder each time. The breaking down of it seems to definitely make it seem easier, yes. It reminds me of Coldplay’s Us Against the world — “Slooooo-ooo-ooow it down,” haha. I guess that could mean this. It makes life seem much more worthwhile, doesn’t it?
It really does, and also, in my opinion, far less overwhelming. That can also translate into a more enjoyable experience. As for the cycles of ever-increasing difficulty, I think that all has to do with routine, which is something that one can change… https://deepthinkings.wordpress.com/2012/06/28/the-pros-and-cons-of-routine/