Daily Inspiration 11-8-11

Thought vs Action Controversy Week

"When you have got an elephant by the hind legs

and he is trying to run away,

it's best to let him run."

-- Abraham Lincoln

When my thinking is lined up and clear, any action required is pretty much effortless.

I love this quote by Abraham Lincoln because I experience this all the time and I have learned to generally follow this advice and to let him run. It's like this Daily Inspirations. I truly want what I write here to be valuable to anyone who happens to read it and to myself in writing it, especially since I probably learn more by doing them that anyone else might. However, in trying to do well, I find myself searching hard, racking my brain as they say, struggling. That struggle produces almost nothing but lost time. It is amazing how I can do that for a couple of hours and not make the slightest progress. Sometimes, I don't even realize I'm doing that, but when I do, I stop immediately and let the elephant run. See ya! Have a nice run! Whew!

As I relax in the absence of the elephant, I find a peace come over me and I do whatever I need to do to distract myself from thinking any more about that subject for a while. Maybe it's an hour, or more, but soon after truly relaxing in it and letting go of the elephant, what I needed just comes to me out of the blue. Flash! There it is, and I sit down an type it with almost no effort at all.

I could have sat there and tried typing, working hard, nose to the grindstone, no pain, no gain and all that, but that turns everything into a four letter word. Who wants that? That's something we all want to avoid generally.

So, the answer is in the thought, not the effort. It is in the relaxing and not worrying about anything. It is in being at peace with the way things are for the moment. Then, in that clear space, what it needed will come and then the effort will be so small, but more important than this is that it will produce far more.

Effortless Is FUN! Struggle is WORK.

Spread Some Joy Today--Think of someone in your life who could use some encouragement, then act on that and find some interesting ways to encourage them.