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The Power of Practice
We live in a culture of immediacy and urgency. We often want quick answers. We don’t see the long-term effect of our actions, and we don’t have the patience to wait to see the long-term fruits of our labor. When something is hard, we might easily give up and move on. We want to choose another path. We think we’ve chosen the wrong path because suddenly the work becomes work. The work becomes a commitment, a daily choice to show up once again — even though you might want to fly to Perú or go get a cup of coffee or talk with friends. And sometimes we might even choose to do these things, but always in the back of our minds is that nagging feeling that we must keep going. That we won’t see the desert mysteriously, miraculously burst into bloom if we don’t walk through it.
It is like walking through a desert. Nothing’s happening. You don’t see anything changing. It’s like striking a match over and over again against a cardboard box to no avail.
Practice is the thing that tethers you— it is the discipline that sets you free. We often think freedom means being able to do whatever you want, whenever you want, and go wherever you want. But how exhausting would that be? To have a wide open horizon? It seems idealistically romantic, but once we’re given that option, we almost cringe in fear and want to hide. We don’t know what to do with all the space. And honestly, it gets boring after a…
