Effort vs Ease

A few weeks ago I was having a conversation with a client about swatting flies and it seems to have triggered this post about effort vs ease!

The ‘Effort’ Path…

In the conversation we were discussing that when a fly annoys us we reach for the fly swat and put an end to it (sorry to animal lovers).

Then we reflected on how the same could happen with thoughts. When there is a knowing of less than desirable thoughts annoying us, we could swot them away with a metaphorical fly swot too.

But today, it occurred to me that both these things require effort, and there is a more effortless way…

In the case of the fly, our natural inclination is to believe that the fly is causing our irritation and thus eliminating the fly makes complete sense. We innocently jump out of our seat, reach for the fly swot and take aim, feeling instant relief when the buzzing ceases.

We can also, through this conversation, become more aware of the thoughts that are being paid attention to.

When they are ‘undesirable’, and we understand they are responsible for how we feel, we may innocently jump to do things to ‘get rid of them’ – whether that’s ignore them, acknowledge them, or anything else that comes to mind, innocently putting attention on them in the process.

Again, all of these things take some degree of effort.

So what’s the alternative?

The ‘Effortless’ Path

Well, let’s take the case of the fly.

If we look to what’s true we can quickly see that the fly is not causing the annoyance. There may be other people present who are not getting annoyed and we can get curious about this. When we pay attention to what’s really going on we can see that there is a degree of thinking present about the fly, and it is THAT which is causing the irritation.

When that is observed it becomes obvious that nothing needs to be done. Thoughts shift and change all the time, by themselves and thus, if they are the cause of the irritation there is the possibility of just being present to a fly, and the noise it makes.

There is the possibility of not needing to eliminate the apparent source of the irritation!

The same goes for thoughts themselves.

It’s so innocent to think that if we are fixated on ‘troublesome’ thoughts, we must do something to get rid of them.

But what if it’s simpler than that?

Simply knowing what’s true – that you are that which is aware of all of it, and that whatever the content of the thoughts are means nothing more than hearing the car drive by or seeing the dog in front of you. All appearing in you, aware.

Nothing to do.

Nothing to change.

In reality, what is wrong with this (whatever ‘this’ is – a fly or a thought) without the thinking about it?

And there we see that the more we come to know what is true about who we are, the less effort is required and the more ease arises!

If you’re curious to understand more about this then my book, The Truth Beyond Thought; Experiments To Rediscover Peace & Freedom is a great place to start.

And if you have any questions about what I’ve written, do get in touch.