Laziness is a spiral

A superior said to me today, that laziness is like a downwards spiral. Once you get into it, it is very hard to get out.

Thinking about it, it is quite true. Once we are used to a slower tempo of life, it is very hard to get back to a fast-paced life. Once we grow complacent, it is hard to motivate ourselves to do something again. It takes a lot of willpower to continue to do something, even when tired or stressed. To me, I am thankful that I have taiji practice. No matter how tired I am, I keep telling myself that I should not miss my practices, for once I miss one, I will grow complacent, and every time I am tired, I will start to convince myself not to go for practices. Before long, I will probably be practising once a week, or even less, as I grow more and more complacent.

And when I apply this to life, it means I don't grow lazy, I don't stop doing something just because I am tired. It means that even when I have time, I find something meaningful to do. Yes, resting is meaningful too. But I know when to rest and when to do something else. That is important because if I allow myself to drop into the laziness spiral, I will have an even harder time trying to climb out.