The Deceptive Dichotomy of Ease

Hey there! I’m glad you’re back. What’s today’s topic?

Ease.

I read aloud to my kids from chapter books before bed. We pick books that have been made into a movie so we can read the book and then watch the movie. Then we talk about the differences.

One of the books we read was Holes by Louis Sachar. It’s a great read. The story follows the unlucky events in the life of a boy, Stanley Yelnats. He ends up at a camp for troubled youth where he and all other “campers” must dig a five-foot round and deep hole every day. Through a series of hard experiences, some key plot events become possible for Stanley.

Throughout all of Stanley’s struggles, a song is repeated throughout the book: “If only, if only the woodpecker sighs, ‘the bark on the tree was as soft as the sky’, While the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely, Crying to the moo-oo-oon, ‘If only, if only.’”

You want your life to be easy! Everyone does. However, experiencing easy things does not lead to lasting feelings of satisfaction and joy. Still, you think that, “if only my life were easy, I’d be happier.”

A sure sign of immaturity is wishing for everything to be easy. It’s your natural state; it takes hard work to uncover meaningful satisfaction. The whole purpose of evolution is to adapt to easier ways of survival.

• Some birds developed bright colored feathers to attract a hard to impress mate.

• Others evolved an extra long tongue to reach hard to get food at the end of a delicate flower.

• Many creatures evolved lungs to breathe our nitrogen/oxygen atmosphere.

We pioneer technology with the purpose of making specific tasks easier.

• Instead of harnessing a horse to a plough, farmers now drive a tractor.

• Instead of lighting a candle, you flip the switch on the wall to light a bulb.

• Instead of fanning yourself with a small fan, you set a temperature for your whole house using your AC.

It takes maturity to say “no” to some of the ease of modern life. Pursuit of difficult goals are just that: difficult! They are also worth it!

Have you ever accomplished something that was difficult and took you months or years? Standing at the “finish line” for that accomplishment, did you feel a mix of celebration and sadness? The feeling of celebration is obvious, but the sadness may have been confusing. The sadness comes from ending the journey to your goal. You had found meaning and perhaps a little joy in the process, and now it’s over. Let that feed your next difficult goal!

Lean into the hard,
Brian