Do We Have More When We Have Less?

Across societies and cultures, there's hardly any difference WHEN dealing with this [default] belief that doing MORE is seen as a GOOD THING and doing LESS is seen as BAD.  Is that true?  Really?  BUT if we hear from some [from many quarters in fact] that in reality, sometimes doing LESS can help us to be more mindful and better able to enjoy WHAT we accomplish.  So, we would hear experts counsel us to start by trying to do just a little less each day to see how it affects our well-being. Problem is, working hard is viewed as that ultimate sign of being a good [and even outstanding] employee.  And learning MORE, taking MORE, doing MORE are positive attributes no less. So,  WILL HAVING  MORE lead to LESS?  Or LESS to MORE❓❓❓

Problem is, we [and I'm guilty of that in the past] DON'T put a lot of positive emphasis on quiet, relaxed moments.  Instead, NOT to a fault, many of us often get caught up by the frenzied and frenetic pace of life we all thought and believed is the way to go.  True, we may think of sleep as necessary BUT many of us DON'T really value the idea of rest for our brains and our bodies.  We even bring the same ethic to our sleep habits💚💛💜

Instead of finding ways to gradually wind down and let ourselves relax enough to fall asleep each night, we work till last minute, sometimes even in bed.  Just in the western world like the United States, studies show that 1 out of 5 adults have trouble sleeping every night.  NOT a big surprise since we have to be able to let go in order to sleep.  WHAT if we tried to do LESS everyday instead of MORE?  We might imagine slowing down and doing LESS would make us lazy OR inefficient❌❌❌

However, even scientific and anecdotal evidence show that DOWNTIME is crucial NOT just to emotional and physical health BUT also to our ability to think, accomplish difficult tasks and be productive.  For instance, still referring to those researches, taking BREAKS can improve our mood, boost our performance, and increase our ability to concentrate and pay more attention💥💥💥

Our takeaway:  Heeding WHAT the experts are telling us, doing LESS can help us to be more mindful and even enjoy WHAT we accomplish.  And using and exerting LESS effort to be more influential [and even more powerful] would NOT surprise many practitioners of mindfulness as slowing down and paying attention can help us 'craft a productive life' that we truly feel good about'.  Bottomline is, let us NOT get 'hostaged' by the 'rat race' we are in because a good number of them may run kaput.  YES dude, we can have MORE even WHEN we have LESS😊😊😊