The Summum Bonum

It occurs to me you become USEFUL when you can accept the world as it is, in its entirety, and then envision gradualistic work to improve it.  Manias of various sorts, the sense of compulsion and urgency brought about by a failure to accept what is: often they make things worse.  They lead to ill considered actions, an unwillingness to admit defeat when it should be admitted, and a constant sense of tension and unease that makes rational thought difficult.

This is a strange, perhaps stupid example, but my home has many, shall we say, problem areas–areas that need tidying, but that I just somehow manage to overlook.  I’m not sloppy, but I’m sure as hell not particularly orderly either.  I was looking at these areas today, and thinking: “it’s OK.  It’s not that bad”, and at the very same time feeling empowered to take care of them.

There are an infinite number of problems in the world.  You could work 24 hours a day for the rest of your life and scarcely make a dent.  Somehow, on some level, you MUST accept some of them, at least, or you will fritter what useful energy you have away, and end up doing something close to nothing, all at full steam.

Relaxation, I am increasingly realizing, is a fundamental trait of people who know how to work well.  When work of any sort is done with great skill it looks easy, in no small measure because it IS easy for that person, since they are not trying to drive with one foot on the brake.