The Tao of Being Slow and Steady - Being Still
Being human, we all have the tendency to do things fast so that we could go on to do more things. Or we tend to "multi-task" for the same reason. The underlying reason for our fast-paced life is to do more things so as to maximise our limited time on earth.
However in one's rush, human tends to make mistakes and waste more time instead. An oxymoron that one tends to forget sometimes.
Looking back to my own experience with Aikido and Taichi, these 2 counterintuitive arts teaches one to be slow and steady instead so that one could be faster in mastering them.
I was reminded of this principle again while i was drawing lines to cross out items on a list using an ink-based pen. Anyone using a normal ink-based pen would know that using one to draw a line can be irritating as the ink rarely flows evenly, especially when you trying to draw your line fast. To draw an even line, you would have to draw on your pen slowly with steady pressure.
This makes me ponder about the times of my life when mistakes are made. Most of them occur when i was rushing. Also, we are conditioned to be fast by this fast-paced society which demands speed and efficiency in all areas.
So how does being slow and steady makes one faster? By being efficient. Fast and Efficiency are not synomous bedfellows. More often than not, they are quite exclusive. One could always fast, but one is never always efficient; i.e mistakes. It is counterintuitive but it makes sense.
Does that mean one should do things slow all the time to achieve efficiency? The prinicple of Tao implies that being slow or fast is being relative. Being steady is the key to the speed in which one should move.
And how does one be steady?
By having a still mind. Having a still mind is like being at the centre of a vortex. Center/mind is calm while everything else moves around it.
Mind you, having a still mind is not easy. But one can start by being slow and steady, where eventually one will slow down and become still.
However in one's rush, human tends to make mistakes and waste more time instead. An oxymoron that one tends to forget sometimes.
Looking back to my own experience with Aikido and Taichi, these 2 counterintuitive arts teaches one to be slow and steady instead so that one could be faster in mastering them.
I was reminded of this principle again while i was drawing lines to cross out items on a list using an ink-based pen. Anyone using a normal ink-based pen would know that using one to draw a line can be irritating as the ink rarely flows evenly, especially when you trying to draw your line fast. To draw an even line, you would have to draw on your pen slowly with steady pressure.
This makes me ponder about the times of my life when mistakes are made. Most of them occur when i was rushing. Also, we are conditioned to be fast by this fast-paced society which demands speed and efficiency in all areas.
So how does being slow and steady makes one faster? By being efficient. Fast and Efficiency are not synomous bedfellows. More often than not, they are quite exclusive. One could always fast, but one is never always efficient; i.e mistakes. It is counterintuitive but it makes sense.
Does that mean one should do things slow all the time to achieve efficiency? The prinicple of Tao implies that being slow or fast is being relative. Being steady is the key to the speed in which one should move.
And how does one be steady?
By having a still mind. Having a still mind is like being at the centre of a vortex. Center/mind is calm while everything else moves around it.
Mind you, having a still mind is not easy. But one can start by being slow and steady, where eventually one will slow down and become still.
Labels: Thinkings
posted by 逍遥老头 at 7:50 PM
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