The constant, daily struggle of a human being in a modern society is the following: “There’s stuff I need to do, even want to do, but at the same time it’s kind of a hassle and I don’t really want to do it now.” The one that almost everyone can relate to is exercise. You know that you want to do it, because you will feel great and be healthier and work off your stress (and so on), but it really is hard to start. The same for work, eating healthier, calling your parents, etc.
What do you say to yourself when you see this happening? You either say “I just don’t feel like doing it”, or you come up with some excuse, or you berate yourself for being lazy and unmotivated. But that’s not really true, is it? You know that you do want it, otherwise you would not feel bad about not doing it…
The reason it feels like there are two warring parts of you is because there are (more than two, in fact). The brain has many layers, that developed at different times, for different reasons. These parts are not all in harmony. The thing you like to think of as your “self” doesn’t exist – it is only an attempt by your left brain to make sense of everything in one, consistent narrative. (When you start really examining this narrative, it starts to break down. Meditation accomplishes this.) It doesn’t want to acknowledge that it arises from a cobbled-together union of competing neurological structures.
Take exercise as an example again. Is there any animal out there that sets aside a part of the day to go to the gym? Do you see antelopes practicing their sprints and building up their VO2-max? Of course not. “Exercise” and movement are used principally for two reasons: to get food and to avoid becoming food. Motivation is built right in. If you’re really hungry, and the closest food was a mile away, would it be hard to get yourself to walk that mile?
Instead of moving to get food, we nowadays move to compensate for the food we’ve eaten. When you’re warm, full and comfortable, The Old One (which is what I’m going to call that part of the brain) has absolutely no reason to go running about. Instead, it knows that nearly all its needs are met, especially if the fridge is full as well. It now wants to conserve energy, to make the food eaten last as long as possible. It is doing what it should – everything is going according to plan. It is not that you are lazy or unmotivated, but that an ancient and important part of you has other ideas. The same goes for work. Why would you want to go do challenging and uncomfortable things which stress you out, when your needs are already met?
We know that The Old One does not have the last say, because people do in fact sometimes go to the gym and accomplish amazing things at work. So the struggle is not hopeless. But maybe that struggle will get a little easier when you realize that not wanting to do certain things is not because you’re broken, but because some essential part of you is functioning perfectly. Which raises the question: how do we tilt the balance from The Old One to The Young Upstart?
The Flow Diaries 