Right effort

There is a Buddhist precept of right effort.  It comes from the understanding that taking certain actions can help us and hinder us, motivation is everything, most particularly motivation for self care that comes out of a balanced idea of what our souls and bodies most need on any day.  Only we live inside our bodies and only we know what works for us.  Often in depression we have to work to make an effort outside what our heads might be telling us.   Stay in bed, see no one, hide under the covers.  Sometimes we do need to rest but I know as I know so many others do that even a 20 minute walk out in nature can boost my mood, as can connecting with an empathic friend.   What we eat can affect our mood too.

I would like to share the following meditation taken from Daily Affirmations for Forgiving and Moving On, by Tian Dayton.   As someone in long term addiction recovery I know I can sometimes push myself too hard if I am reacting out of stress of underlying feelings of not being worthy or good enough.  At those times I may need to slow down, remember to breathe and take a break and some time out for quiet reflection.  Sometimes we don’t need to make heaps of effort just effort of the kind that is ‘right’ for us at that particular moment.

Less Effort

Today I make a small, positive effort.  If the efforts that I make are not coming froma good place inside of me, they will get me nowhere.  If I make negative efforts born out of attitudes that are not helpful no matter how hard I work at them, it will yield little positive change in my life.   Much less effort in the right direction will yield quicker and better results.  If I can calm and clear my mind by slowing it down, I can actually see what is in it.  I will get a feeling for what needs to be done and what direction would be most fruitful for me to take.

I make less but better effort.

Human nature is not a machine built after a model and set to do exactly the work prescribed for it, but a tree, which requires to grow and develop itself on all sides, according to the tendency of the inward forces which make it a living thing.  

John Stuart Mill