Shaking the Little Tree Vol.85: Occasionally “Down” a Bit
How can one always be on high alert and keep charging forward without stopping? Occasionally, one needs to be a bit “depressed”. This is not slackness; it's giving oneself a chance to catch one's breath once in a while.
When I was young, I always thought that life was like in inspiring stories, believing that the harder one strives and the faster one runs, the less time one has wasted. But as I walked on, I came to understand that compared to “always being energetic”, “being truly at ease” is more like what life should be like.
Truth is not about forcing yourself to say “I can do it” when you are exhausted, but about openly admitting that “my ability is limited and I just want to take a break today.” Freedom means being able to decide for yourself “when to charge forward and when to curl up on the sofa”, without being bound by the standard of “must be efficient”. Ordinariness means being able to focus on your phone at ease during those moments when you don't feel like doing anything, without worrying about “how much time this will waste”, and understanding that you are just an ordinary person.
Of course, it's not that I've given up my persistence in my ideals; it's just that I've learned to make peace with myself. When one is full of energy, they will naturally devote themselves wholeheartedly to the things they love. When you're not in the right state of mind, just casually put yourself on the sofa and let both your body and mind relax. This “laziness” is never about being lazy; it's about building up strength for future persistence, allowing life to have both the confidence to forge ahead and the peace of mind to pause.
I'd like to recommend Greg McGivaughn's "Easilism" to everyone.
