GETTING THINGS DONE

Noticing the tension that subtly pervaded my body during meditation this morning, I asked myself, What is the tension about?  The answer popped up quickly: It's about getting things done.  Not about having things to do, not about doing them, but about having them done.

Which is an interesting construction, because it implies the need to be done with them.  The delusion, of course, is that once these things are done, there will be surcease on the other side.  Once this thing is done, I'll be able to relax and pay attention once again to the moment.  But of course once this thing is done, there's another thing to be done, and another.  There is no end of things to be done.

The need to get things done is related, of course, to the larger picture of impatience--one of my least endearing and most destructive qualities.  The challenge is to learn to let go of that need, to be satisfied with the doing of things and to abandon the constant need to get them done. That way lies wisdom and serenity.

Like everything Buddhist, it's quite simple and self-evident--and at the same time incredibly hard...