There Is No One Thing
In Real Happiness, Sharon Salzburg says that meditation is like “trying to split a huge piece of wood with a small ax. You hit that piece of wood ninety-nine times and nothing happens. Then you hit it the one hundredth time and it splits open.”
She adds that it wasn’t the hundredth hit that split the wood, it was the culmination of all our efforts. And not just the effects the other strikes had on the wood, but also the effects the process had on us: We are transformed, our will is fortified, we become more patient, stronger, and we learn throughout the experience.
This analogy applies to any endeavor, not just attaining enlightenment. By putting in the work day after day, little by little we move closer to where we want to be. Along the way, we are changed so subtly that we don’t even notice it’s happening. While slow and difficult, this process is necessary. If we attempt to shortcut the process and by chance it works, success will be short-lived because we didn’t evolve along the way.
You can’t skip ahead. There is no one thing to buy to be happy, no one pill to take for health, no one course to attend to be successful, no one exercise to do for a tighter/flatter/bigger whatever-body-part. There is no one thing. There is only work, consistent work.
Do the things you can do every day to move you closer to your goals of happiness, health, and success. What are those things? You already know: It’s the big things you’re contemplating and the little things you’ve been avoiding.
Start today. Start right now. Pick up the ax, or the dumbbells, or the book, or the mala beads, or the carrots sticks and keep doing it over and over again until you’ve split the wood.
Alicia Cross is a Certified Personal Trainer, Wellness Coach, and Yoga Instructor with more than 15 years’ experience working with clients in classes and one-on-one. She is a yogi, meditator, vegan, and lifter of heavy things. If you’re ready to discover the strength and peace that comes from within, email Alicia@AliciaCrossTraining.com.
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