“We are determined to be starved before we are hungry.” – Thoreau …religions, sciences, and business ethics have tried their hardest to convince us there is a Great Reward waiting for us somewhere, and that what we have to do is spend our lives working like lunatics to catch up with it. Whether it’s up in the sky, behind the next molecule, or in the executive suite, it’s somehow farther along than we are… …the Puritans, practically worked themselves to death in the fields without getting much of anything in return from their tremendous efforts. They were actually starving until the wiser inhabitants of the land showed them a few things about working in harmony with the earth’s rhythms. Now you plant; now you relax. Now you work the soil; now you leave it alone. The Puritans never really understood or believed in the second half – and so, after two or three centuries of pushing, pushing, and pushing the once-fertile earth, and a few years of depleting its energy still further with synthetic stimulants, we have apples that taste like cardboard, oranges that taste like tennis balls, and pears that taste like sweetened Styrofoam - all products of soil that is not allowed to relax. …the hardheaded followers of this religion base failed to appreciate the beauty of the endless forest and clear waters that appeared before them on this fresh green continent of the “New World.” Instead they saw the paradise that was here and the people who lived in harmony with it as alien and threatening, something to attack and conquer – because it all stood in the way of the Great Reward. From the Miserable Puritan came the Restless Pioneer, and from him, the Lonely Cowboy, always riding off into the sunset, looking for something just down the trail. From this rootless, dissatisfied ancestry has come the “Bisy Backson” who, like his forefathers, has never really felt at home, at peace, with his Friendly Land. Rigid, combative fanatic that he is, the tightfisted Backson is just too hard on others, and too hard on the world that heroically attempts to carry on in spite of what he is doing to it. The Backson thinks of progress in terms of fighting and overcoming. …one thing that seems rather odd is that the Bisy Backson society practically worships youthful energy, appearance, and attitudes, has developed no effective methods of retaining them, a lack testified to by an ever-increasing reliance on the unnatural False Front approach of cosmetics and plastic surgery. Instead it has developed countless ways of breaking youthfulness down and destroying it. Those damaging activities that are not part of the search for the Great Reward seem to accumulate under the general heading of Saving Time. A good example of this can be found in the classic monument to the Bisy Backson: the Hamburger Stand. In China, there is a Teahouse. In France, there is the Sidewalk Café. Practically every civilized country in the world has some sort of equivalent – a place where people can go to eat, relax, and talk things over without worrying about what time it is, and without having to leave as soon as the food is eaten. In China, for example, the Teahouse is a real social institution. Throughout the day, families, neighbors, and friends drop in for tea and light food. They stay as long as they like. Discussions may last for hours. The overall message of the Teahouse is “relax and enjoy yourself…breath…you are important.” What is the message of the Hamburger Stand? Quite obviously it’s: “You’re one in one billion customers. You don’t count. Hurry Up!” Not only that, but as everyone knows by now, the horrible Hamburger Stand is an insult to the customer’s health as well. Unfortunately, this is not the only example supported by the Saving Time mentality. We could also list the Supermarket, the Microwave Oven, the Nuclear Power Plant, the Poisonous Chemicals and Fertilizers we clean with and even eat, etc, etc… The main problem wit this great obsession for Saving Time is very simple: you can’t save time. You can only spend it. But, you can spend it wisely or foolishly. The Bisy Backson has practically no time at all, because he’s too busy wasting it by trying to save it. And by trying to save every bit of it, he ends up wasting the whole thing. Thoreau said: “We are determined to be starved before we are hungry.” Li Chung Yun – who died over two-hundred years old in China advised those who wanted strong health to “sit like a turtle, walk like a pigeon, and sleep like a dog.” When asked for his major secret to his longevity, he replied, “inner quiet.” …a goal does not mean as much once it has been reached; the reward is not so rewarding once it has been given. If we add up all the rewards we have in our lives, we won’t have very much. But if we add up all the spaces between the rewards, we’ll come up with quite a bit. And if we add up the rewards and the spaces, then we’ll have everything. Every minute of the time we spent. What if we could enjoy it? …it’s really the process that’s important. Enjoyment of the process is the secret that erases the myths of the Great Reward and Saving Time. …the poet Lu Yu wrote: “The clouds above us join and separate, The breeze in the courtyard leaves and returns. Life is like that, so why not relax? Who can stop us from celebrating?” The preceding blog was paraphrased and quoted directly from The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff. | 
