One Apple A Day #365
There are days when I open up the laptop, and I have no idea about what I want to write.
Those days I stare at the whiteness of the screen for a while, and if nothing comes out, I just look around allowing anything to inspire me.
This is not one of those days. On the contrary, this morning I had a few ideas before opening the computer. Yes, even more than one. Then I started the writing program, and I saw that this is the apple number 365.
Quite a milestone.
So now I don’t know what to do. Should I write about this significant milestone? About how something that started as a small daily habit I was supposed to try for 90 days become an integral part of my routine?
Or should I write about the ideas that emerged in my mind during my morning practices? Ideas like the need to slow down to innovate better or my reflections about nonduality.
Sometimes, having plenty of choices is not as good as we may think. When I have no options, I just act on what I have. I put all my energy into that action, and I move forward. There isn’t much thinking before — “what is the best choice?” — or after — “did I make the right decision?”.
In the talk above, psychologist Barry Schwartz reminds us of the paradox of choice. Having more options does not make us freer instead, it paralyses us.
I think the reason is that when we want to make a choice, we engage our rational mind. And we got trapped in the idea of making the right one. As if “a right choice” really exists.
When we let go of our thinking, of our desire to be right and we learn to truly listen to ourselves, then the action just emerges. And it feels like we have no choices.