WA – The Art of Balance by Kaki Okumura

Author:Kaki Okumura
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781786786906
Publisher: Watkins
Published: 2023-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

LESSON 10:

SLOW DOWN

What value is there in slowing down? In the US, it is perhaps more common to meet individuals who like to move fast, and in big and bold moves, rather than those who see taking their time as the appropriate way forward. Personally, after moving to New York it only took me a day to pick up on how nobody waited for the crosswalk lights to turn to green, and that the traffic lights here were treated more like suggestions than rules. Everybody’s always in a rush to somewhere, and an extra minute saved is seen as an extra minute that can be put to work elsewhere.

This mindset stems from a society rooted in fierce competition, and to keep up many people believe that we need to be doing more and in less time, with some people going as far as abusing prescription medication to get more done. In the US or UK, it is not uncommon to hear of students taking non-prescribed ADHD medication – stimulant drugs like Adderall and Concerta which help increase focus – to try and get ahead in the classroom,40 and more and more early-career workers are reporting reliance on these drugs to improve their productivity and output in the workplace.41 If having the energy and time to work more is not possible within the natural bounds of human capacity, some people see nothing wrong with using drugs to extend that.

It is easy to empathize with this need to push ourselves to a psychological and physical limit to get ahead, and it doesn’t take much leaning into the world to understand where it’s coming from. Competition starts at an increasingly younger age, cram schools are the norm and not the exception, and spending your 20s working 12-hour days is not unheard of. People pushed to their limit will often go to the extreme for a solution – because when taken over the edge, extreme solutions seem like the only viable option.

Yet I believe the real solution to our perceived need to work more lies somewhere less revolutionary. There is a story that I enjoy that I discovered inside The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. He narrates the tale of a man who wished to rise above human suffering and find enlightenment.

The man in the story wanted to find someone who could guide him to his goals, so he went to a Buddhist temple to find a master.

“Master, if I meditate four hours a day, how long will it take me to transcend?”

The Master looked at him and said, “If you meditate four hours a day, perhaps you will transcend in ten years.”

Thinking he could do better, the man then said, “Oh, Master, what if I meditated eight hours a day, how long will it take me to transcend?”

The Master looked at him and said, “If you meditate eight hours a day, perhaps you will transcend in twenty years.” 42

The man was so focused on reaching the outcome of transcendence as soon as possible that he missed the point of how meditation helps one reach it.

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