We appreciate strenuous efforts. If we did our best, exerting ourselves beyond the limits of our exhaustion, we believe we will be happy. However, exertion does not equate with success. Our most valiant efforts may not achieve the goals we set for ourselves. On the other side, we will be left exhausted and empty-handed. Equally, in our knackered state, even if we succeeded, we’d be unable to reproduce our success. Worse still, we may be put off such a performance in the future, the memory of the effort lingering, traumatising.

An alternative may be counterintuitive: what if we praised those who get there—mostly, at least—without burning themselves out? We all know sustainably prolonged efforts cannot be high-intensity activities, so why do we obsess over always trying to do more in less time? We cannot deny that all learning and expertise are the products of hard work, but how we do it is up to us. Maybe we’ll take longer, but should we be sprinting when everyone keeps going about projects resembling marathons?

The next time we see someone not stressing out over a task or completing it leisurely, instead of becoming irritated, we should probably take inspiration from them.

Inspirational half-arsedness

A powerful man likes to boast about excelling at a game he blatantly cheats in. He doesn’t need to believe that he’s skilled at it. Instead, he prides himself on a superior form of greatness that lives beyond skill or prowess. He is the best at the game because he can get away with cheating: victory is guaranteed.

A more noble person would see the flaw. However, to our winner, how one achieves a goal is secondary to achieving that goal. The fact that the rest of the players accept his hegemony and bow to him as he claims his fraudulent triumph is all he needs. Fealty trumps logic and merit.

Of course, such displays of authority have inherently shaky foundations. The wind must only change direction for the semblance of power to tumble like the statue of a deposed dictator. We will have to be that wind.

Honest people blowing against knavish men

Snooker is a tremendous sport. Players must think—but should be wary of overthinking—each shot, considering what ball to pocket and how to leave the white ball for their next shot. If success is improbable, they must also decide whether to risk the move or play a defensive manoeuvre that makes their opponent’s turn more challenging.

Snooker rewards audacity only when it comes hand in hand with prudence. It is a game of constant choices, yet optimum decision-making pales in comparison to optimum execution. Moreover, snooker demands effort and practice, and it constantly humbles us, forcing us to face our ineptitude and veering us away from arrogance. Finally, snooker requires the players to be honest and polite in victory and defeat.

The noble art of snooker

We may be attracted to looks. We may care for kindness. Yet, we fall in love with character, personality and self-worth.

Love is intrinsically mysterious and capricious, but if we crave the love of others, we somehow need to delve into the feeling’s obscure depths and muster as much of it as we can for ourselves.

Love’s obscure nature

Negative thinking loops are pernicious. It may be tempting to focus on the events or people that push us towards their sucking nature—blackholes of misery. However, if something or someone has the power to send us spiralling down one of these loops, we probably were standing too close to its edge, too vulnerable to its pull.

Snapping out of it is only the essential first step. Leaving the sadness behind and putting distance between it and us is a daily endeavour.

Loops of sadness

We may measure and apportion time in a calculated and scientific manner. We measure years in a way any other human can understand. However, our experience of time is anything but accurate or predictable. At any point, a trivial moment may etch itself into our consciousness as an image we revisit for years. Conversely, significant information may slip our minds and be lost forever. In short, memory is flimsy.

Thus, we need a robust system for identifying time, a Rosetta Stone that allows us to communicate and expect events to occur when we say they would. We already have it and have had it for many centuries. Nevertheless, we’re not so good at giving ourselves credit for not feeling how we should about time and its effect on us.

It’s often hard to reconcile one with the other. It’s okay to suffer from cognitive dissonance as a result. We should accept that time passes in a way we cannot experience. We should acknowledge that things are different from how we perceive them.

Martian Thoughts

Inspirational half-arsedness

Honest people blowing against knavish men

The noble art of snooker

Love’s obscure nature

Loops of sadness

Temporal dissonance