Will and Work: How to Balance the Seesaw
21.2.2023
“Finally, the fallout happened. I don’t want to write or read. It’s not just a typical writer's block or laziness. Frankly, I don’t have any words to describe this kind of feeling. I feel as if someone just hammered my will. As if it’s slipping off…I want to... but…”
This blog is going online today, February 22. And the night before, I felt this. If I try to sum up every bit of my non-verbal clusters, it may take a long time to get back to my routine and I may miss this Wednesday. Let me show you an outline of my writing schedule. Typically, Mondays and Tuesdays get the most attention for writing and the following Thursdays and Fridays work as planning days for the next blog. But this week, the days retaliated. It didn’t work as it used to work on other weeks. The reasons are some undeniable overwhelming issues. Some technical work hit me out of nowhere, and everything jumbled up pretty hastily. I didn’t take a day off on the weekend. And finally, on Tuesday, I got that passage in my journal.
Will and work—they both are like a team on a seesaw and if any one of them goes overboard or overloaded, they fail to fix each other at every single stage. The point is how to hold this frantic seesaw. When I was four years old, a seesaw banged on my chin and the doctor grumpily said, “She needs two stitches.” I still remember that rainy day. On our school playground, there was a red seesaw. I stood at one side. I called out my friend and said confidently, “You sit first.” And my friend jumped on the opposite side of the watery seesaw. We couldn’t gauge the ‘balance-work’.
And here I am, and again I couldn’t gauge the same ‘balance’. But where did I lack? I was diligent; I worked in the weekend for my own benefit; I solved every single problem. But that excessive work oozed out my will. And it drastically dropped and one side of the seesaw tumbled into darkness.
If I dive into philosophy, the Stoic outlook comes to my mind. Epictetus once stated, “When children stick their hand down a narrow goody jar they can’t get their full fist out and start crying. Drop a few treats and you will get it out! Curb your desire — don’t set your heart on so many things and you will get what you need”(Discourses III.9,22). I feel it shows the greatest idea of balance between will and work. I know if I kept myself awake for a whole night I could manage every possible task I listed in my head but how far could I go like that? I can’t stay alert for 24*7 even if I want to accomplish every bit.
We all want to achieve the wildest success. That’s our will. But it can become true for a few of us and for only those few who know how to balance. We need to know the steps to control our minds’ cranky seesaw. Like, the first step could be to gauge our average daily abilities. Overestimation or underestimation of both can cause fatigue. The second step is all about prudent choices. We plan each day, but all of a sudden some work comes up. When and to whom to say yes or no can make a huge difference. And lastly, there should be a rewarding relationship with the soul-self. Every single day, if we create rewarding time may be eating dessert, or watching any show, or indulging in any leisure activity—that one small pat should not be counted as boastful. These three help the seesaw swing in harmony. I call these three a compliment to Ina*. How your seesaw swings, the key is somewhere there with you.
(*In Sanskrit, Ina (इन).—a. means determined or anything that is powerful.)