Why All or Nothingness can Kill Your Life

Photo by gnaharro

Nothing renders a life, so lifeless, as that of all or nothingness. If action is the substance of life, all or nothingness is its kryptonite.

Life is about growth. If it was about anything other than growth we’d all be born perfect, not needing to rise to new levels. But we’re not born perfect – far from it.

“What distinguishes what’s alive from what’s dead is growth, be it in plants or in you.” – Dr. Wayne Dyer

You Don’t Know the Merit of Others

It’s unfeasible to accurately judge the merit of someone else’s accomplishments. It’s not easily detectable at all, because everyone is born with specific talents as well as specific negative traits.

Considering this, I indeed believe someone’s “small” victory can be more worthy than someone else’s “larger” accomplishment. Think of it this way: If one person has a fierce temper and after many hundreds of times striving to overcome it, decreases it by 40%; this is far greater an accomplishment in comparison to someone who never loses his or her temper but also never needed to work on them self to get to that level.

Consider an additional example: Someone who has a low aptitude in math, yet through tremendous effort ends up with a B has accomplished far more than someone else who’s naturally gifted at math and ends up with an A. The real barometer of accomplishment, then, is effort.

Using All or Nothingness as an Excuse

Never allow needing to do all be an excuse for doing none. This is no excuse at all; it’s merely an attempt to justify no action, that’s all.

Ever heard the admonition: “never give up”? The only way you can give up is to decide to do nothing. Every little positive act holds the kernel to the big picture you seek. By planting that seed of effort, you may be planting a seed that one day germinates into a powerful garden.

What exactly big efforts are and little efforts are becomes very difficult to discern. Who knows what those little efforts added up will lead to? Change doesn’t happen overnight. But little efforts can one day take the form of something truly remarkable.

You are your own master. Could anyone else be your master? When you have gained control over yourself, you have found a master of rare value. - Buddhist proverb

Imagine being up to bat yet opting not to pick up the bat. Sure, if you do decide to pick up the bat, it may be quite some time before your mind, body and spirit become one, enabling you to hit the ball out of the park. With every swing of the bat, however, your muscles get more tone, your focus more true. You may have to swing many times before you hit the ball just right; every swing requiring effort. Though, with enough time and practice, you’ll ultimately knock the ball out of the park. While, with doing nothing you’ll go nowhere.

The definition of enlightenment is letting go of all or nothingness and celebrating every move in the right direction, even just after going in the wrong direction.

When we’re all or nothing, we’re actively throwing away time. Time that isn’t used, is misused.

There’s always something to accomplish; even an hour before the last breath, there is something meaningful to do. Something to rise up to.

Time is now.

“Better than one hundred years lived in vice is one single day lived in virtue. Better than one hundred years lived in ignorance is one single day lived in wisdom. Better than one hundred years lived in idleness and weakness is one single day lived with courage and powerful striving.” – Shakyamuni

Photo by ~uchinan-chu

Buddhist Proverb quote and Shakyamuni quote taken from the book, “Open Your Mind, Open Your Life.”