(Photo: “The Garden of Earthly Delights.” – Hieronymus Bosch.)
After a few especially challenging weeks, I thought last night about the potential joys of simply embracing complacency; Sitting endlessly in front of a video game, fake-seeing worlds I’ll never really see, killing enemies I’ll never really face, using skills I’ll never really have…
Or revolving around sitcoms or TV programs, watching others lives play out before my eyes, and either wanting to be them or being glad I’m not…
Or even simply succumbing to the thrall of near-constant social media interactions, in which lying (to ourselves, or others, or both) is 1,000 times more common than the truth.
In the face of physical and emotional struggle, all of that “simplicity” can sound pretty good. Reality is often overrated, and the idea of escaping it is understandably wp-contentealing to many people on many days.
But.
As the snake eats its tail, the choice to imbalance reality with fantasy is never without cost. “Not doing” becomes a habit, and that habit becomes a component of your character. Before long, you’re little more than a “not-doer”. We see it all the time, and yet it’s nearly impossible to explain to those in the midst of… eating their own tails.
The mistakes I’ve made are heavy, and many. I’ve contemplated taking the simple path more often than many people have even thought about any path at all.
At the end of the day, my mind is seldom if ever without turmoil, and that can be a deep well.
But.
That tumult does not and will not ever include doubt as to whether I’ve done all I can do, learned all I can learn, and pushed as hard as I can push. It will also never include regret for taking the easy way as opposed to learning the hard… as deceivingly wp-contentealing as that may often seem.
“The easy way makes for one easy day, but the harder you try, the more noble you’ll die.”