Just take the next step

Recently I got caught up in a trying situation. I played the scenario several times in my mind, looked for viable solutions and tried to undo what was already done not realizing that all the while I was miserable and at odds with myself. Once I stopped ruminating and focussed on the immediate task at hand, I was able to regain my sense of balance. Mulling over what we can and cannot control is one of our biggest obsessions. Our brains are wired to look for problems, to obsess over finding a solution, to fix what we feel needs fixing and thus derive some sense of relief and accomplishment.

We fail to realise, however, that over-thinking, resisting or trying to control what life presents us with, is the very source of our anguish. Instead, when we surrender to life, and meet whatever comes next with equanimity we become equitable. When we understand the value of going with the flow, taking the next step, all our misgivings dissolve like sugar in water.

The clouds don’t overthink; they drift with the wind. Trees do not fight storms; they sway, they bend. Nature does not resist change; it relents. They all do what needs to be done and that’s what makes them evolve over time.

A little Zen story underscores this notion in a big way. A monk asked the Zen master: “Now that I am in the the monastery, please teach me what I need to learn.” The Zen master smiled and asked: “Have you eaten your rice porridge?”

The monk replied: “Yes, I have, thank you.”

The Zen master said: “Then you had better wash your bowl.”

It is said that in that moment the monk was enlightened.

There is something minimalistic and yet occult about this advice. Life always offers one or multiple next steps to take and there’s more satisfaction to be drawn from doing what needs to be done rather than just pondering over things. There is no point in getting caught up thinking about the meaning of life when you can act; just wash your bowl. And in the washing, you’ll find not just the next step, but also all you need in the larger scheme of things. Hiral Nagda says it best: “Storms come and dissolve. I become the ocean.”