Worry Goes With Hurry
Posted by BarbaraZ on May 29, 2011
In his book, Take Your Time, Eknath Easwaran says, “Worry goes with hurry because the person in a hurry doesn’t have time to think clearly and make clear decisions, so he or she is always worried about results”. He concludes this paragraph saying, “If you slow down enough to think clearly and act wisely, you have no need to worry because you know you are doing your best.”
He explains that the yoga philosophy states that the human personality consists of three elements—inertia, energy and harmony. While all three are always present, one often seems to be more dominant than the others. Each is different in themselves, but they are all states of the same energy. He used the example of ice, water and steam. Each can be transformed into the other.
Inertia is the least wanted state, but a person does not have to stay there. That is when they need to find motivation to move on. Energy is great, but only if it is under control. To see a person with tremendous energy roaring forward without a direct goal in mind, is like waiting for an accident to happen. A quickly made decision on their part, can take them totally in the wrong direction. Harmony is the balance between the two. This is the goal we want and need in our lives.
Eknath Easwaran quotes Thoreau who said, “It is not enough if you are busy. The question is what are you busy about?” According to Easwaran “Energy out of control has two salient characteristics: hurry and worry.” Sometimes, a person who is trying to make a good impression, comes on strong, but since he or she have not really thought their presentation all the way through, they fall flat. To me, this is different from someone just ‘puttering’ around the house or the yard. Their puttering does have a reason, most likely it is to relax.
He also mentions, and I am most aware of this. We usually have energy for the things we want to do, but those other tasks, well, what happens to our energy then? For some reason, it just seems to evaporate.
Two programs I am using to help myself, in totally different ways state: Act, it does not matter whether you want to do it or not… you just do it! One is the Guided Mindfulness Meditation by Jon Kabat-Zinn. The other is by Jim Miotke in his Productive and Happy—7-Keys. Both say, “Do it! Your frame of mind should not be your guide over what needs to be done and when. You will never get to first base that way.
What form of energy do you usually find yourself with? Are you able to bring Harmony or Balance to your Energy?
