A cornerstone of yoga is the Sanskrit word “Tapas”. Translated, it means discipline and “heat.” We implement discipline in our everyday world of work, family obligations, etc. But when we apply discipline to a goal, dream, or other inspiration, life heats up! It doesn’t matter how grand or insignificant the goal is. Adding the heat of discipline makes life more interesting, informative, and challenging.
The “comfort zone” can be anything but comfortable when we have things we want to do. The “discomfort zone” of taking risks and trying is satisfying, once we learn the valuable role “failure” plays in growing. And we must also understand the valuable role that “playing” plays. This isn’t a life-or-death proposition. It’s about playing with our inspiration, which is great fun if we take fear out of the activity. The discipline of trying provides a chance to examine and heal fear. Science has proven that the only thing necessary to curing a phobia is exposure.
Inspiration comes from a wise, capable, and courageous aspect of our own being. We ignore it at our peril. “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation, and go to the grave with the song still in them,” Thoreau said. Fear of trying, fear of playing with our dreams, leads to a life of mediocrity. Neglecting our goals can leave us depressed, anxious, frustrated, and embarrassed, among so many unpleasant emotions.
Trying is empowering. Failure is informative. Practice builds skills and talents.
These are my thoughts, as I undertake discipline to reduce my interaction with media. I’ve been trying this discipline for weeks. I’ve successfully left media before, several times, and then fallen off the wagon. I’m aware of the negative influence media plays in my life. I feel the addictive urge rumbling under the surface of my awareness. I see how stimulated I get when clicking on the junk that excites me. The addiction removes my ability to make other preferred choices in some moments. As a yogi, I appreciate the value of silence. I seek to maintain an intimate relationship with Supreme Being—that wise, brave, kind, and easy version of myself. That is not possible when wasting time clicking on Reddit!
This is all to say, I’m on board! Ready to walk away from media. Except I keep trying and failing. And that has got me thinking about how valuable the act of trying and failing is. Like a scientist, I observe myself closely. I watch my decision-making ability. I take mental notes on how, why, and when I choose to zone out on media. I ask myself if I can make another choice, and if not, why not.
All this happens with as little judgement as possible. Trying is far more effective and tolerable when I take negativity out of the equation. This is a goal, and it requires practice--not negative self-recriminations. There is only one way to change, grow, and expand, and that is by trying. Negative self-talk undermines the practice and drives me straight into the arms of Yahoo News.
It’s brave, productive, and meaningful to try. It’s brave, productive, and meaningful to practice goals. It’s brave, productive, and meaningful to take an active interest in executing free will and true self-control.
And it's important to remember to thank ourselves for choosing to try.
“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” - Paulo Coelho
“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” - Winston Churchill
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