Is It Really Worth the Effort?
You alone know if it’s really worth the effort – or not.
What is “It”? That depends, I suppose. Various things that we can experience will qualify as “it.” Might be something big and scary or small and mundane.
“It” might be getting up early to go for a walk. Or it might be applying for that dream job you’ve always wanted. Maybe “it” is finally cleaning out the walk-in closet in your bedroom. Perhaps “it” is taking the time to sit and write that novel you’ve always dreamed of writing.
But is it really worth it? I don’t know. But that’s because the worth and value each of us might place upon “it” will vary. This depends on what “it” is and what it means to me or you or anyone else.
How many times have you just gone with the flow and done something? Then, questioned if it had been worth whatever time or effort you put into it? Or worse – found that it truly wasn’t worth it?
Part of self-awareness for everyone is recognizing and acknowledging how much more power we have over our life experiences than we tend to take. Doing so is relatively easy – but it’s also easy to forget.
The key? Mindfulness.
In this context, mindfulness is not some end-all-be-all hooky-spooky idea for self-help and such. No, when I write about mindfulness I’m writing about actual, at the moment, in the present, conscious awareness.
What’s the difference? Genuine, real mindfulness is simple.
Mindfulness informs our lives here and now
There are three parts to true, genuine mindfulness.
The first is mindfulness via sensory input. How we experience the world around us and take it in via touch, taste, smell, sight, hearing, and sixth sense intuition/perception/insight.
The second is via conscious awareness – in the present moment – of our thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions. Conscious awareness of these puts us directly in touch with our conscious mind and our mindset/headspace/psyche selves.
The third is via combining the other two to analyze – in the here and now – the interconnections between our present, conscious mind, our subconscious mind, and our ego. This allows us to really recognize and acknowledge precisely who, what, where, how, and why we are.
When we know ourselves via mindfulness – we become capable of choosing. Choosing what? Everything.
The one thing over which you and I have any control whatsoever is ourselves. And that’s specifically our conscious minds.
The subconscious mind just is. Because it takes in everything we learn, encounter, and experience, it’s like a sponge. Over time, it can hold things we’d like it not to anymore – in addition to our habits, beliefs, and values. We can control it – but we don’t unless we make the conscious effort to do so.
Likewise, our ego just is. The ego is the bridge between our conscious and subconscious mind. But in that role, it’s how we both project ourselves to the world at large and view the mirror of all we believe ourselves to be back at us. And like the subconscious mind, we can control it – but we don’t unless we make the conscious effort to do so.
Taking control of our conscious mind is how we can recognize the worth of any effort.
Worth the effort is always variable
This adds a level of frustration to this concept. The answer to the question of is it really worth the effort might not be one-and-done.
For example – let’s say you have a difficult relationship with a family member. In your thirties, trying to work with them and around your difficulties – though challenging – still felt rewarding afterward. But when you reached your forties – it became increasingly less so. Perhaps working around and with your difficulties between you has gotten so toxic that even thinking about the effort upsets you.
In this instance, it certainly appears that while the answer to is it really worth the effort used to be yes, it’s become no. The answer has changed.
This is the challenge with change being the one and only constant in the whole Universe. Today’s yes is tomorrow’s no, while today’s no is tomorrow’s yes. And that can be utterly infuriating.
Then, there’s the other major challenge.
You alone can choose the worth or lack
This often seems untrue. We live in a society where we’re often faced with the notion that “you’ve to do what you’ve got to do”, having certain responsibilities and obligations, expectations, and other judgments to live with and up to.
The reality, however, is that only you can choose and decide for you. While you can solicit advice and opinions on the worth of effort for any given thing, the ultimate decision and valuation of its worth or lack is yours.
This can be infuriating. Particularly when you make a choice you are certain is right for your mental, emotional, physical, and/or spiritual health – and others judge you’re wrong. For example, you decide to stop putting in effort for the above-mentioned family member. Other members of your family might judge you for that choice. But since they can’t get into your head, heart, or soul with you – they don’t know what’s right for you. Nor can they.
Is it really worth the effort? The answer belongs to you alone. And you are worthy and deserving of choosing whatever it might be for yourself. Even if you know that what you are choosing might cause another to feel hurt – so long as it’s not malicious, you’re worthy and deserving and justified in whatever you’re choosing to do or not to do.
This can feel super heavy. But while more weight comes from choosing right and wrong and making decisions for ourselves – I am certain it’s still better than just going with whatever the world tosses our way and doing what we can to live life to the fullest and in any way we believe is best for us.
Choosing if it’s really worth the effort isn’t hard
It’s all about working with mindfulness of our thoughts, feelings, and intentions to direct our actions.
When we work to be more consciously aware and mindful, we open ourselves to taking control of the one thing we can truly exert control of in this life. Knowing that we are the only one who is inside our heart, mind, and soul, we recognize and acknowledge that we alone can determine if anything is worth the effort or not. And from there, make choices and decisions for ourselves.
This empowers us – and in turn, our empowerment can empower others around us. That can expand to change the bigger picture matters.
Choosing for ourselves generally leans positively.
Taking an approach to positivity and negativity – from the vast cylinder that exists between them – shifts matters in a way to open more dialogue. In that form, we can explore and share where we are between the extremes and how that impacts us here and now.
Lastly, I believe the better aware we are of ourselves in the now, the more we can do to choose and decide how our life experiences will be. When that empowers us, it can also open those around us to their own empowerment. And that is, to me, a worthwhile endeavor to explore and share.
Thank you for coming along on this ride with me.
This is the four hundred and forty-third entry of my Positivity series. I hope that these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone. Feel free to share, re-blog, and spread the positivity.
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