The Importance of Action
I recently came across a story that made me think about the importance of action.
A student approached the Buddha, seeking clear answers to life’s unanswerable questions.
The Buddha replied:
“Imagine a man struck by a poisoned arrow. A doctor rushes to his side to remove the arrow and treat the wound, but the man stops him.
‘Not so fast! First, I want to know who shot me. What town does he come from? What kind of wood is his bow made from? Was it a crossbow or a longbow?’
Clearly, that man would die while his questions remained unanswered. Like him, we often get hit by the poisoned arrows of suffering and ignorance. But dwelling too much on the nature of that suffering won’t help us.
You cannot think your way to a better life. You have to act. The answers you seek are found in the actions you avoid.”
This is especially true today, with technology acting as a crutch for procrastination. People spend hours researching and planning but never take action.
To avoid this trap, consider the Pareto Principle, the 80/20 rule. Skip the instinct to apply the scientific method to simple situations.
Trust your gut as you gain more life experience.
Here’s a new straightforward scientific approach to simple situations:
- Form a hypothesis: Create an educated guess about how things work
- Test your hypothesis: Conduct an experiment to test your prediction
- Analyze your data: Draw conclusions based on your data
(Way less steps if you know the full scientific method.)
So next time, skip the wasted questions and thinking.
Address the big problem first.
Be the action.
Hugs through cyberspace!
Stay woke, my reader folk.
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