Stepping into greatness and out of unhappiness with dynamic goals - Aristotle and Ego Series.
How do you know if you are doing?
How do you know when you’ve reached the state of pure doing?
This state does take practice. Your mind will be tempted to start wandering. Let’s say you are working in an office. As you sit there, typing, the thoughts will begin creeping in - “I should check my email. This is boring. What’s for dinner? I wonder what Julia is doing.” Sometimes the thoughts are bigger worries that have been in the background for a long time - “When is my next pay cheque? Is he doing a better job than I am? Will I get fired? Is Julia going to cheat on me?”
Just be aware of these thoughts and focus your attention on the task at hand. Remind yourself that it is your goal at the current moment. Like any practice, you might get frustrated and give up. But stick with it. Slowly you’ll find your awareness and concentration grows. If this sounds like meditation to you - that’s what it is! Imagine the power of meditating 24 hours a day instead of 10 minutes a day.
How do you know when you have achieved this state? Can you remember the last time you were engrossed in something so completely that you lost all sense of time? When you suddenly look up and realise that hours have passed without you even knowing? That is the state of doing.
What time was it? Now. Not the future you are worried about or the past you wish never happened. Where was the doubt, the fear, the thoughts of lack and urgency? Gone - the only thoughts you were using were the thoughts you needed to do your job. Fear, doubt and unhappiness only have a space to return when you’ve snapped out of doing.
In sports psychology, this is often called “The Zone”. A common quote is “There no longer was any me, there no longer was any ball. I became one with the ball and the action. We were no longer separate.”
Many traditional martial artists also work towards this state - when there is no ego - and all there is, is the doing. The greatest masters of the past have espoused this state of mind as the secret to their skill.
Bring this state of mind into your life’s work, and watch the results roll in.
End of Showdown
That’s the end of the Aristotle series. Hooray!
I’ll be busy for the next few weeks - I’m pursuing a degree in psychology while working full time, and exams are coming up so posts will be slower for a few weeks. Please forgive me.
I might take the opportunity to experiment with shorter posts, or list posts. They seem to be more popular with the standard blog reader than the long posts that I normally type.
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15 Comments, Comment or Ping
Hannah
I’m just so unhappy. I’ve worked and waited my whole life to get friends and a life partner, and have neither. I am a nice person, fun, even independent, though it doesn’t sound like it from this.
May 20th, 2007
Albert
Hi Hannah…did the post help? There is no unhappiness in being alone? Can you try implementing that concept? Maybe if you tried the ego post, it would help. Please give it a shot and let me know how you go.
May 20th, 2007
Hannah
I can’t find that part. There is plenty of unhappiness in being alone! Sure, it’s great if it’s not true. If you’ve got someone to come home to when you wish to.
May 23rd, 2007
Albert
Hannah, if I may suggest a few things:
1) being with someone doesn’t necessarily make you happier, in fact if you are pinning all your hopes on them, hoping that they will make you happy then it is far easier to get hurt. Nobody is perfect, and even the most sweet, understanding man cannot necessarily love you the way you want to be loved. So if you are looking for a man to take away your unhappiness you’re bound to get hurt…i’m not saying that to be mean…but when you look for a partner to take away your unhappiness, then it’s not true love, it’s more a clinginess or neediness, and that almost never ends up good. So if you go out and develop your social skills and find a man, which you can do, it won’t really matter anyway - the clinginess (which isn’t wrong by the way, 99% of people are like thaT) just means that any relationship will be full of ups and downs.
2) So the best way is to be happy alone. Few ways to do this - go out and find a passion, so that you almost have no time for a man, and that you love having time to do those things. Once you have a great life and are happy on your own, a lover will be more “icing on the cake”. And paradoxically you’ll be way more attractive to any potentials.
3) Another way to be happy alone is to give yourself the love that you are looking for. I have been in your shoes before (for many years in fact), so I know what I’m talking about, in the 2 points above as well. I believe in the end, no one can give you the love you want except yourself. The ego post will explain more.
4) I think you’ll probably need to start with the ego post. It is the ego that says you need to be with someone to be happy.. the ego post is here…
http://tinyurl.com/2gqehn
(I used tinyurl.com because my actual URL was too long and looks crap breaking out of the borders, but don’t worry it’s a link to another post on my site, and not some rip off)
Hope it helps, please feel free to leave comments or email me after if you still need clarification after the ego post.
May 23rd, 2007
Kara-Leah Masina
I liked this post, a lot. The concept of happiness lying in the doing resonates with me.
As a yoga teacher, and of course practitioner… I am aware it’s so easy to fall into the desire of trying to ‘do’ the perfect pose… always looking forward to the moment when you’ll finally master it.
But then what?
There is always another variation to take you on…
So then you’ll want to master that…
No, in my practice now, I release my achieving mind and just en-joy BEING in the pase, feeling how it is today, listening to what it has to tell me…
And therein lies happiness…
May 24th, 2007
Mahatma
I’ve just fallen into your blog a couple of days ago, and have been reading it intently since then, thank you for all this effort. i went through a lot of disappointments lately and discovered a lot of what you say true about my ego,my need to be loved, appreciated, noticed etc. but i have a question:
1) How can i find such a passion that will make me love myself. I’m a mother, loved by my husband and kids, happily settled. I read a lot, write, and help people, do charity work, and love it all, but still cant find the feeling of passion where i lose myself in it and love my self with no need for people to see or appreciate me.
2) isnt there a danger that in finding this “passion”my happiness will be attached to it? and i’ll be in the ego game again?
3) if my ego calls me to do ‘Good” but i doubt it wants the appreciation, should i stop the act, or do it?
4) final Q: why do you do all this service on the blog? is it a mission you are willing to spend soo much time on, or is it a business, or both? the reason i ask, is i’d like to understand the person behind the words and relate more to what you say.
thanks
Feb 20th, 2008
Albert
Hey there Mahatma!
Thanks for your kind words. Regarding your questions…
1) I don’t know for sure as that is not my area of expertise, but I have a post half written on it….it’ll be up in a week or so, it might give you some ideas, I hope
2) I wouldn’t worry so much about the ego, it’s not some kind of enemy, it’s just a belief system that has dominated our lives.
3) Nothing wrong with doing good, I think.
4) More on this on my about page, but it’s a mixture of everything - helping others, speeding my own journey, and also an ambition to be a professional blogger. The percentages that make it all up change all the time.
Thanks for the comment!
Feb 21st, 2008
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