Doing Without Wanting

Like many kids in school, my ex-girlfriend often didn’t feel like completing the assignment at hand. “I don’t want to!” she would say. One of her teachers had a better response than the others: “Then you’ll do it without wanting.”

What an intriguing proposition for a nine-year-old! “Desire is not a prerequisite for action? What sorcery is this?” I’m not sure whether it’s better to learn this early or not, but I do know we all learn it eventually.

The follow-up lesson, however, is reserved only for those who show up reluctantly more than they’d like to: In the long run, especially if the outcome is important, the doing will beget the wanting more so than the other way around.

Keep doing. Life isn’t school, and the stakes are much bigger than getting a stamp on your homework.