Minimum Effort

The method of minimum effort was ingrained in my mind decades go.

In school, where the aims superseded reality. Where what we got seemed more important than what we were or what we knew, somehow....

People around me encouraged me and others to aim and focus on what we got, what we gained, what we attained, rather than on what we were, who we were, and what we learned. In school. And the lesser effort that we expended in order to attain a particular goal, the more "prestige" or "awe" was gained or perceived.

Then the goal to pursue became not growth or learning or truth. It became the attainment of something external, demonstrable. Grades, awards, ranks. Effects, regardless of the causes. Ends, regardless of the means.

The focus on "what we get" instead of "what we are". "Who we are", "what we grow into".

Millions of students and people and children and adults have this particular idea ingrained in their minds gradually, repeatedly, day in and day out, in schools, in corporations, in friend circles, in families. And every single time it amplifies the problem. When the focus is what we get and not who we are, we shall focus on the outwards, on what it looks like, on the outside, and it is then easy to forget and neglect the core of what we are, around which all the clothing and curtains around it hang. And through continued neglect, the channels to our core gather dust, rust, rot, and we lose contact with whom we truly are.