Continuing from a previous post, apply this when faced often with the mundane and boring. . . . continuing from The Holiness of Everyday Life II, Joan B. MacDonald wrote:
Doing housework while measuring the time and effort required to do it, eagerly anticipating its completion, is like being an employee who is constantly watching the clock, anticipating a coffee break, lunch, and quitting time. Not only does the quality of the work suffer but so does the individual, for nothing is quite so miserable as being stuck in someplace you don’t want to be, doing something you don’t want to do, while your mind is off someplace else. How do you feel when you let your mind do that sort of thing? Trapped, Restless, Miserable! Unfortunately, when the job is over and you’ve moved on to the much anticipated quitting time, it’s a disappointment. You’ve shot your whole day. This common human phenomenon of anxious anticipation for “what comes next” is insightfully and humorously described by Benjamin Hoff in The Tao of Pooh, continuing a conversation with Christopher Robin:
. . and the rest of us give up and fall by the side of the road, cursing the world which is not to blame but which is to show the way.”6 . . . . “Lots of people have dreams like that, ” I added reassuringly. “Oh, said Pooh, “About unreachable jars of honey?”
“About the same sort of thing,” I said. That’s not unusual. The odd thing, though, is some people live like that. “Why? asked Pooh. I don’t know, I said. I suppose it gives them Something to Do.” It doesn’t sound like much fun to me, said Pooh.
No, it doesn’t. A way of life that keeps saying, around the next corner, above the next step,” works against the natural order of things and makes it so difficult to be happy and good that only a few get to where they would have naturally been in the first place—Happy and Good—-the rest of us give up and fall by the wayside of the side of the road, cursing the world which is not to blame but which is there to help show the way.”
“Around the next corner, above the next step.” When I get this done and out of my way—once the kids are out of school the house will look better—I’ll do a quick pick up and then I can—tomorrow, later in the morning, next week . . . ” No wonder we become frustrated! The work never ends and “later” never comes. We spend a large portion of our time anticipating a quitting time that never materializes. The first step in dealing with this problem is to stop anticipating. Instead of focusing your mind on the time and work required to finish, focus your time on the task at hand. Look around. See what needs to be done. Start. As you work, become absorbed in what you are doing, giving it your full attention. Notice the the warmth and fresh smell of the fluffy clothes as you pull them from the dryer. Purity is being expressed there. As you fold clothes, notice order emerging. As you share the task with your four-year old (something you wouldn’t be willing to do if you were in a hurry to finish), you feel harmony and peace. When the job is done, you move right on. What needs to be done next? Your mind, heart, and body become absorbed in what you are doing and in the spiritual qualities being expressed. At some point during your work, you’ve forgotten your busy schedule, your complaints and your preoccupations. ~Joan B. MacDonald, The Holiness of Everyday Life (Deseret Book: Salt Lake City, 1995), 20-23 (continued) For the first post of this series click: * The Holiness of Everyday Life
