The Simpleness of the Way

Why, as humans, do we always want for something more complex, and avoid the simple way?

I do it just as much as other people.

We don't want to do something as simple as eating more vegetables and avoiding bacon and cake in order to achieve better health. We want a different answer, a new answer, a more complicated answer. The desire for a new, better, different way is why there are 500 diet books on the shelf at any given book store, all telling you beautifully complex ways to eat.

We don't want to try exercise as a solution to joint pain. That won't work for me, you think. I need something different. Maybe a pill or some stretching or essential oils or meditating or all four at once.

There's a story in the Old Testament of Naaman, a respected military leader, who becomes infected with leprosy.

Naaman goes to Elisha the prophet to be healed, and Elisha tells him to wash in the Jordan River seven times.

Instead of hastening to wash, Naaman gets mad. The Jordan river is a dirty river. There must be better rivers. Surely he could be healed without washing. Why couldn't he have a better miracle or a different one?

Naaman's servants, fortunately, are not so foolish and they say, "Dude, if Elisha had told you to do something crazy tough, like walking on hot coals or climbing the tallest mountain or slaying dragons, you totally would do it. But because it's washing in a dirty old river, it's not cool enough for you."

Naaman sees the light, washes in the river, and he is healed, just as Elisha told him he would be.

A simple way, but not really an easy one. 

Sometimes the simple ways are not the way you want your results to come. You want to have a better river to wash in. You want something flashy that you can brag about later. But instead, the most significant changes come in small and simple things, and they aren't things you can brag about. Choosing broccoli and beans instead of a grilled cheese sandwich. Running a mile every day. Doing a kettlebell swing. Wearing a mask at the grocery store. Praying when you don't really feel like praying.

There often isn't a greater answer out there or some big secret to uncover. Instead, it's just as basic as you always feared it would be. Because if it's simple, you can do it, and how scary is that? What sort of change might you have to make? What things will you have to give up? Your comfort, your pride, your previous convictions, your bad habits?

The simpleness of the way is often the stumbling block. We want something complicated so that when we fail, we have an excuse. It was just too complex/I couldn't keep up.

Sometimes the hard thing is just being real, recognizing that a simple path is not necessarily an easy one, and often the hardest part of the simple path is getting out of our own way. When the cart is not moving, it doesn't mean we need a new wheel; we just need to realize the old wheels will work perfectly fine if we're willing to push the cart.