Breaking things into smaller steps

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This one is for people 50 years old and above, but the ones from 45 on  may take heed, too J

Ever trip and fall in a hurry; ever spoil the whole work because you rush at some points ? Here are a few things you may learn to improve by breaking things into smaller steps’

I belong to the group of men who like to get things done efficiently and fast, or very fast. But as time goes through and I go through, I realize sometimes we need to slow down— especially with important things or work— to avoid (some) mistakes and trippings..

Here are some observations and advises to break things in smaller steps and slow down :

1.     The wiring process : As we grow, the autonomous working of our mind-body complex grows faster too, facilitates our ability to finish work faster , more efficiently. We are wired to the process of accomplishing work, jobs, things faster, and people “with speed” seem to develop this process even at a impressively higher rate. Look at the Karate , Tae kwondo  kicks, punches of the martial artists, or the sprinters, swimmers at Olympics games, and you see what I mean. With others, who place the speed priority in getting things done, they are wired to hurrying up, or pushing things in the fastest way possible. This, consequentially, turns the clocks in their system to run faster.  Chances for them to achieve and win prizes in life are high, but chances to make mistakes are not low, either.

2.     And as the “faster” people look back at their works, plans, agendas, sometimes they may feel , at different steps, or stages, phases, they could avoid some mistakes, or defective parts, if at the time they slow down.

3.     For all of us, slowing down can help us avoid tripping, and when we look back, we may realize we have skipped a couple of steps in reaching a point, a job, or a process, in which we may have better results, less loss , if we have slowed down. For example, you and a friend need to attend a meeting very soon and you could be somewhat late; the water is boiling for tea, and you need to get a cup for her/him in a cupboard, which is higher than you can reach by length of a hand, or two inches, Instead of getting a stool to reach it, in a hurry, you try to extend your arm so far, and stretch a muscle, or ligament and it hurts badly the next day. In a more drastic situation, when a stool is also not higher enough, you may trip and break a couple of bones.

4.     In some important plans, when you slow down you may realize you have skipped “rather significant/ decisive”, or even important steps when you’re in a hurried mindset

5.     Slowing down can offer :

a)     A more relaxed manner, interval to finish work. It may get result a little slower [ if you calculate and project your work, job well, taking a more relaxed, a little slower process will not impede your work much], but you are surer that the work, the job will be completed on a more solid ground.

b)    Having more time to observe, see more of the on-going process of actions, work, job; therefore maybe able to have less missing steps

c)     And here is the impressive, good point : Stop, hold the rush,  the “wired” pushing waves from the eight consciousnesses at bay will surprise you—more than you may think— by its effect. At least it can show you the foreseeing, the possibility of an error-bound pathway in a rush attempt, and you can stop and think about a couple of  possible improvising steps.

  

6.     Meditation practitioners, artists, writers often feel :

        a) With slowing down, we have more time to enjoy, appreciate what

            we do, what we eat, what we read, or listen. More than often you

            probably have heard of people who are so hurried in their lives

           and work that they forget how the foods they just ate yesterday

           tasted. That’s pretty ‘lousy’, isn’t it ? Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh

           said a long time ago: Take time, slow down, taste your tangerine;

           wash your face, put on your robe etc. The main point is “not to

           finish things fast, or rush things”, then you can see/feel how fully,

           how permeating the flavor of the tangerine is etc.  Arco gas stations,

           some years ago reminded customers : Take the time to smell a

           flower.

b)     Accustomed to meditation, meditation practitioners often do

    things, contemplate on things very slowly. As such they can

    observe the processes ( of how their bodies react to the environment, of

    how minds jump from one thought to another; how ideas, feelings

    come and go, and many other things ), see clearer how they form

    and disappear, how their reactions to them are etc. Seeing things

    clearer is a wonderful thing, I believe. In the same vein, more solid steps
    in sequences can give processes, work more stability.

7.     Point for reflection : Why hurried many times , when after 50 years

     in life , after many things have been accomplished, or done in many

     ways ? Usually the things of importance in our lives, we normally

     have either accomplished, done it, or not  in the 25-45 years of age.

     After 50  years, what is there that is so important anymore, in most

     cases ? Isn’t that result of something , taken to be ‘important’, is just

     of a futile nature, which we may blow it out of proportion, regarding

     its “importance’ ?

Notes:

*  I recently tripped when I renovated my ceiling, not because I was in a hurry; but the happening “trips” me to write this.

*  Life in our more mechanized ( after the Industrial revolution), and now digitized world ( after the coming of the computer) , has put a lot of emphasis, pressure on speed, on efficiency { and many time efficiency is let equated with speed}.  For its efficiency, I used to be 75% for it, now I still am at 65% for it, because I believe in efficiency in work and plenty of time,in speed also. But as I grow older, I also reckon the importance of slowing down in life’s activities. And the beauty, as well as the efficiency of it in another way.

* One very fascinating thing is : when you stop the rush, hold the pushing waves of the combined effect of the eight consciousness at bay, you will see the dynamics of them being very much reduced, changed course, diffused and disintegrated. You, then , can stir it slowly to the direction you want.

 * The best part of holding the pushing stream at bay is , if you devote time to explore more, gradually you can learn how to partially control it, stir its direction somewhat. That is a source of happiness.

Chân Huyền

Feb. 2018