Change Slow - at about 70%
March 12th 2007 23:53
We seem to be pressed to do more and more, to work harder and harder, to be ever more efficient. I want to raise a protest and point out that this stressful approach to life is not healthy. And it leads to societies like ours which, at some level, rely on drugs for them to be tolerable to people. (The drug of choice for most is alcohol but there are many others, mostly legal (anti-depressants and so) and some illegal.) I’m not knocking drugs, they make us feel good and that is no bad thing – so long as there are no side effects or other bad consequences. My point is that we need to medicate ourselves on a massive scale to cope with the society we have created, and go on creating.
What I want to zero in on is the ways we are advised to change. Why we should want to change to suit others (our boss, spouse, or even “the economy”) is the topic for another blog. The way we are usually advised to change is to give it everything we’ve got – maybe even a little more. This is unhealthy.
Firstly it teaches us to (at best) ignore our limitations and needs, or (worse) punish ourselves. This is hardly the recipe for a healthy life – one of joy and ease.
Secondly it can be dangerous. An athlete who adopts this advice is likely to be injured. But this is easily spotted. What isn’t so easy to spot is the damage that is done to our selves, and our mental, emotional and spiritual lives, that is done to us by adopting this advice.
But if you look closely you will see it. You will see people who have achieved their goals but who aren't happy (business people are the oft quoted example). You will see people of great accomplishment and skill who seem just dead, they don’t have joy in their doing despite their extraordinary skill. And you will see people who can’t meet others because they have deadened their feeling – in order to give it everything they’ve got instead of listening to their own hesitations and reluctance.
The alternative to this is to do enough – not too little (or we get bored), not too much (or we damage ourselves). This is called “the rule of 70%” by Bruce Frantzis (in Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body – where he applies to qi gong and martial arts, but it applies to the rest of our lives too. Especially to our efforts to change).
Abiding by the 70% rule we will change as we wish and in a healthy way. It is a piece of wisdom well worth considering.
What I want to zero in on is the ways we are advised to change. Why we should want to change to suit others (our boss, spouse, or even “the economy”) is the topic for another blog. The way we are usually advised to change is to give it everything we’ve got – maybe even a little more. This is unhealthy.
Firstly it teaches us to (at best) ignore our limitations and needs, or (worse) punish ourselves. This is hardly the recipe for a healthy life – one of joy and ease.
Secondly it can be dangerous. An athlete who adopts this advice is likely to be injured. But this is easily spotted. What isn’t so easy to spot is the damage that is done to our selves, and our mental, emotional and spiritual lives, that is done to us by adopting this advice.
But if you look closely you will see it. You will see people who have achieved their goals but who aren't happy (business people are the oft quoted example). You will see people of great accomplishment and skill who seem just dead, they don’t have joy in their doing despite their extraordinary skill. And you will see people who can’t meet others because they have deadened their feeling – in order to give it everything they’ve got instead of listening to their own hesitations and reluctance.
The alternative to this is to do enough – not too little (or we get bored), not too much (or we damage ourselves). This is called “the rule of 70%” by Bruce Frantzis (in Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body – where he applies to qi gong and martial arts, but it applies to the rest of our lives too. Especially to our efforts to change).
Abiding by the 70% rule we will change as we wish and in a healthy way. It is a piece of wisdom well worth considering.
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