For many it is a tendency to seek pleasure and they do it diligently. For others, duty comes first, and they focus on it. However, it is in the balance of enjoying pleasure and doing duty that the pleasant and productive life resides. Here is the key. Keep reading.
It is typical of animals and humans to seek pleasure and flee pain. It is part of our primary nature to move towards what pleases us, and to move away or escape, when things become uncomfortable, complicated or tense.
However, anyone who has lived has learned that little or nothing that has true quality is cheap, easy, painless, or free. Giving birth to a baby, graduating from a university degree, running a company that is productive, writing a book, acquiring material wealth or maintaining a good relationship as a couple have their cost, and sometimes it is high.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to advance, overcome or transcend mediocrity without making efforts, without fulfilling duties in a sustained way, beyond the difficulties and temptations to abandon by resignation, pride or laziness, great enemies of success and well-being. emotional.
In general, it can be said that living well requires a certain balance between duty and pleasure, because as José Ingenieros said, in his book "The moral forces", both those who do not know how to work and those who do not know how to have fun lose as much.
Pleasure is necessary for good living. It helps us to overcome the negative moments of life and refreshes us as a breeze, amid concerns and individual demands, work, study, family and society.
A good rest; a party with friends, food and good music; a walk close to nature or an afternoon of movies on TV or with video games can help us renew our energies and enthusiasm to tackle everyday challenges. There are also those who prefer and it is perfectly valid, allies such as solitude, meditation and prayer, as routes of interior renewal.
However, we cannot ignore the importance of duty, compliance with the demands of work, food, clothing and transportation, or the duties assumed with work, partner and family, which must, of course, be assumed, not as a burden., but as compensation for everything that is obtained from life, or as a way of developing ourselves as social beings in interdependent communities in which everyone influences everyone, and in which when one fails, others suffer. A poorly done job can delay an achievement, congest a street or life, risk a life.
Perls has said that he is mature who responds to his challenges without manipulatively leaning on others. Adler, a leading researcher on behavior, affirmed that all human problems stemmed from the failure to fulfill their duties towards themselves, with their partner or with society. In the words of Martin Seligman, life becomes good when we learn to enjoy the effort, and for the Indian sage, the enlightened Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, the essential problem of people is none other than their lack of seriousness to tackle their overcoming and finish with their sufferings.
We all have duties. There are duties of father, son, husband, wife, friend, employee, employer, consumer, supplier, some of them protected by laws, others by ethics and morals. In my opinion, the essential thing here is to find a balance that allows us to live satisfactorily.
The consequences of not fulfilling our duties are varied: guilt, rejection, loneliness, conflict, physical damage, lawsuits, jail and even death. As an example, let's think that a student who fails to do her homework, who does not attend classes or does not take the exams, will be failed, she will not learn what she could have learned, and she will lose valuable years that she. will never be able to recover. He who pays us his debts loses reputation and credit.
That being the case, there is much we can do to ensure we achieve it and receive the benefits and avoid the discomforts associated with non-compliance and neglect:
- List the duties that have been assigned to you or that you have voluntarily assumed.
- Choose which ones we will commit to without being pushed, forced or pressured.
- Define dates, times and forms of compliance.
- Use reminders.
- Focus on the benefits you will get from doing your duty.
- Do not listen to reasons from your mind or from friends for not complying.
- Respect what you have planned and stick to your plans and goals.
Do not accept the ideas of the mind that homework can be postponed or that it is not so important to do it. Do not use the breach as an act of revenge or rebellion against others, as the injured party will turn out to be you. Honor your words and keep your commitments.
Apply the same method regarding pleasure. Make a list of pleasures, nice people, set dates, allocate a budget and overcome additions to work or suffering and enjoy a break or a walk. It is good, it is deserved and it needs it. Do not leave it for the future, because the future does not exist. It only has the present moment.
Just be sure to avoid excesses and you will see that life is much better when you can create and maintain a balance between duty and pleasure. Here is the perfect balance. Thanks for reading me.
