The Spaces Between Rewards

 Staying motivated to reach goals can be tough...this shift in awareness helped me find joy in the process. 

   

"What do you like doing best in the world, Pooh?"

 "Well," said Pooh, "what I like best---" and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you begin to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.

 The honey doesn't taste so good once it is being eaten; the goal doesn't mean so much once it has been reached; the reward is not so rewarding once it has been given. If we add up all the rewards in our lives, we won't have very much. 

But, if we add up 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 time that we spent.                             

That doesn't mean the goals we have don't count. They do, mostly because they cause us to go through the process, and it's the process that makes us wise, happy, or whatever...Enjoyment of the process is the secret that erases the myths of the Great Reward and Saving Time.

 

I've spent time over the last twenty five years in martial arts avoiding the process because like any endeavor that takes time and effort, at some point it gets uncomfortable. In the process of getting good at something,  many times I've aimed my focus on the Great Reward to keep me going. I know it's one of the reasons I've been at it this long, there's always been something new to strive towards.  There are new belt levels or titles, techniques or skills that seemed to contain what I wanted. I wondered how to get there quickly, what can I do to be better and saving time. That "Eye  on the Prize" mentality had me hooked, and simply by sticking it out this long I got good enough. Good enough to teach, good enough to do my own thing, good enough that I'm fortunate enough to make a living off of it. 

Pooh has me wondering though. Silly old bear. What would it take for me to be more than good enough?

What if I was more aware than just slogging through reps... 

So, I started looking at the process.  What if instead of just cranking out reps-what if I was fully engaged in ALL of the process? I've always liked martial arts enough that the love balanced out the hard times, and the pain wasn't enough to get

 in the way of the gain. What if I let go of the goal and just experience exactly where I am with all this? What will I learn from that? According to Pooh's Way,  and with practice focusing my awareness, I can have the momentary joy of not only the reward but ALSO the joy of every moment in between.

 

"What could we call that moment

 before we begin to eat the honey? Some would call it anticipation, but we think it's more than that. We would call it awareness. It's when we become happy and realize it, if only for an instant. By Enjoying the Process, we can stretch the awareness out so it's no longer only a moment, but covers the whole thing."

-Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh