Daily Reflection 3.29.21
Mar. 29th, 2021 08:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
readoldthings Sun Tzu says,
There are a few different possible applications of this idea to our purposes.
Rewarding yourself is the first thing that comes to mind. If you have a huge task to undertake, first break it up into small pieces-- these are the small territories and allotments-- and then give yourself a reward whenever you complete each step.
I've recently gotten into home brewing. Brewing a 5 gallon batch of beer can be a pretty big undertaking, requiring a number of steps. First you brew the thing; then a few weeks later you have the option of siphoning it into a secondary container to continue fermentation; then you bottle it; then, finally, after it's been conditioned in the bottles, you open it up and drink it.
If you spend any time watching videos about home brewing, as I do, you'll find that the guys that make these videos nearly always have a beer in hand during each step of the process. This is the sort of thing I'm talking about-- You're going to spend anywhere from 3 to 6 hours on each of these steps, so how do you make it interesting? Reward yourself with a tall glass of beer, of course!
Rewarding yourself is a way to help develop any habit. I remember many years ago I was trying to quit smoking. I found that there were episodes of my favorite TV show available on Amazon for $2 apiece-- this was completely new at the time. $2 was much less than the $5 I was spending every day on cigarettes (and that should tell you how long ago this was), so I decided that any day I didn't buy a pack of cigarettes, I could buy an episode of my show.
Another application comes to mind, though, that's sort of the reverse of this one. Let's segue into it by talking about beer again. Once you finish brewing a 5 gallon batch of beer, you have a whole lot of beer. 45-50 bottles-- that's 2 cases. Now, unless you're drinking much more than you should, it's going to take you a while to go through all that.
So why not give it away?
Not all of it of course. And, well, not even most of it. But if it is true that we reap as we sew, then sew generosity-- and watch it return to you!
This principle of giving is widely applicable. Another idea, and one that you find in a lot of support and recovery groups, is that if you find yourself stuck in your own mind and your own misery, get out of it by finding something good to do for others. I've applied this on occasion-- It's an easy one for me to forget, and my head is a place I'm fond of getting stuck-- but when I remember I've found it's very effective. If you find yourself turning inward and spiraling on some unpleasant set of thoughts, emotions or behavior patterns, stop and do some charitable act for someone. It's best if you can move and actually physically do something, but saying a prayer and making a donation works, too. In the battle within, this is the equivalent of taking the enemy's territory and dividing the spoils among your men, and it works quite well.
Give freely, never grudgingly but always in a spirit of gratitude for the opportunity of giving, and you'll find it returns to you.
When you plunder a countryside, let the spoil be divided among your men; when you capture new territory, cut it up into allotments for the benefit of the soldiery.
There are a few different possible applications of this idea to our purposes.
Rewarding yourself is the first thing that comes to mind. If you have a huge task to undertake, first break it up into small pieces-- these are the small territories and allotments-- and then give yourself a reward whenever you complete each step.
I've recently gotten into home brewing. Brewing a 5 gallon batch of beer can be a pretty big undertaking, requiring a number of steps. First you brew the thing; then a few weeks later you have the option of siphoning it into a secondary container to continue fermentation; then you bottle it; then, finally, after it's been conditioned in the bottles, you open it up and drink it.
If you spend any time watching videos about home brewing, as I do, you'll find that the guys that make these videos nearly always have a beer in hand during each step of the process. This is the sort of thing I'm talking about-- You're going to spend anywhere from 3 to 6 hours on each of these steps, so how do you make it interesting? Reward yourself with a tall glass of beer, of course!
Rewarding yourself is a way to help develop any habit. I remember many years ago I was trying to quit smoking. I found that there were episodes of my favorite TV show available on Amazon for $2 apiece-- this was completely new at the time. $2 was much less than the $5 I was spending every day on cigarettes (and that should tell you how long ago this was), so I decided that any day I didn't buy a pack of cigarettes, I could buy an episode of my show.
Another application comes to mind, though, that's sort of the reverse of this one. Let's segue into it by talking about beer again. Once you finish brewing a 5 gallon batch of beer, you have a whole lot of beer. 45-50 bottles-- that's 2 cases. Now, unless you're drinking much more than you should, it's going to take you a while to go through all that.
So why not give it away?
Not all of it of course. And, well, not even most of it. But if it is true that we reap as we sew, then sew generosity-- and watch it return to you!
This principle of giving is widely applicable. Another idea, and one that you find in a lot of support and recovery groups, is that if you find yourself stuck in your own mind and your own misery, get out of it by finding something good to do for others. I've applied this on occasion-- It's an easy one for me to forget, and my head is a place I'm fond of getting stuck-- but when I remember I've found it's very effective. If you find yourself turning inward and spiraling on some unpleasant set of thoughts, emotions or behavior patterns, stop and do some charitable act for someone. It's best if you can move and actually physically do something, but saying a prayer and making a donation works, too. In the battle within, this is the equivalent of taking the enemy's territory and dividing the spoils among your men, and it works quite well.
Give freely, never grudgingly but always in a spirit of gratitude for the opportunity of giving, and you'll find it returns to you.
