Life: It’s All Made More Difficult by Us
It never ceases to surprise me how much more difficult we make things for ourselves than they have to be, and I’m certainly guilty of this.
It is not a negative thing at all; it is only human nature. Harder is not bad. As things become challenging, we grow. So, there is both a sense and a beauty to it.
Having said that, once we realize how much more difficult things become as a result of our actions, we have the ability to… not make them more difficult. Simplify. Have an easier time with the tasks.
Let’s take a look at the several ways we may make things more difficult before we get into how to actually achieve it.
Ways We Complicate Things for Ourselves
We cause ourselves a great deal of additional pondering as well as worry. We add a significant number of additional stages.
When we put off dealing with problems for such a long period, the situation ultimately becomes much more unpleasant.
We tend to worry about things that are beyond our control or that we have no way of knowing about, such as the opinions of other people.
All of them are self-defense strategies; we are attempting to protect ourselves in some way. Yet in the vast majority of circumstances, it is not required.
Let’s have a look at a few instances of the common ways in which we make things more difficult for ourselves:
There is an email waiting for me in my inbox that has a few prerequisites before I can respond to it. I believe that I have too much to accomplish, so rather than completing those things right now, I put them off till later.
It stays in my inbox for about a week after I delete it. This is also true of a number of other emails. Since I am so overloaded by this, I keep putting off responding to all of the emails.
What might have been a straightforward series of steps ends up being an insurmountable mountain.
I need to do some preparing for an upcoming trip, and it worries me that there are so many things that may go wrong since I have no idea what to anticipate or what other people will think of me.
That was too much for me to handle, so I pushed it off while simultaneously fretting about it for weeks. While it may seem like a straightforward process at first—booking a ticket and lodging, as well as packing—it ultimately causes a great deal of stress.
My to-do list is filled with a million different tasks that need to be done. Instead of just moving on to the next item on the list, I hop from one task to the next, worry that I won’t be able to do everything, and then divert myself for a time, which ultimately leads to feelings of being overwhelmed and stressed out.
When I host social events at my home, the planning process quickly devolves into a frenzy of anxiety and excessive preparation, and I spend days getting things ready.
Alternatively, it may be as easy as obtaining some food and beverages and making some little adjustments to the environment.
You are able to observe that in all of these cases, I have shown a method that may be straightforward and uncomplicated.
Nevertheless, we compound the problem by adding layers of complexity, concern, overload, diversion, avoidance, stress, overthinking, and excessive preparation and anticipation.
Imagine doing everything in the most straightforward manner imaginable. How would that feel?
How to Do Tasks With Considerably Less Effort
While you’re doing something, some helpful questions to ask yourself are as follows:
1. In what ways am I making this more difficult?
2. How can I do this task with the least amount of effort and difficulty?
3. If I had faith in myself, how would I handle this situation?
Take, for instance:
If you trusted who you were and didn’t have to worry about whether other people would evaluate you based on what you accomplished, how would you go about producing something and putting it out into the world?
Just putting my ideas out into the world and letting them go has made this process simpler and easier for me.
If you are unable to respond to a message or email right now due to a lack of available time, Would it be possible for you to schedule some time later in the day or throughout the week to attend to the messages that need a little more attention?
Could you please just concentrate on the work at hand rather than obsessing over everything else that has to be done and allowing yourself to get overwhelmed by the prospect of it all?
If you’re feeling anxious about anything you said in a recent discussion, consider this: What if you just trusted yourself and focused your attention on the task at hand instead?
What if, while getting ready for anything in the near future, you were able to put your faith in yourself and do the task in the most straightforward manner possible?
If you’re constantly beating yourself up and beating yourself up… What would happen if you let go of that and showed compassion to yourself instead?
If you are putting unnecessary pressure and expectations on yourself, what if you let go of everything and simply committed yourself entirely to whatever it is that you are doing?
What if, instead of avoiding and diverting yourself, you took the tiniest next step and trusted in yourself? If you’re already putting a lot of additional stress on top of everything else, this could be a good idea.
What if, rather than overthinking the situation and becoming mired in concern and uncertainty, you just lost yourself in the act of doing?
Imagine if you approached everything you did with a spirit of playfulness, comfort, excitement, curiosity, pleasure, and love. What would happen?
This is a practice that lasts a lifetime, yet it yields such stunning results. I hope that your life is uncomplicated and stress-free.
