The Vacuum
You’ve heard the idiom, “Nature abhors a vacuum”.
It’s spot on.
As soon as one thought is gone, another takes its place. As soon as a beggar leaves his corner, another one replaces him. As soon as one habit goes, another takes its place.
So, in essence, wherever there’s a hole, nature will try and fill it.
I found myself whining the other day.
If only “I had more time I’d write more.”
Guess what?
Over the last month or so, I’ve had oodles of time on my hands.
Did I write more?
No.
Here’s what I did.
I watched the entire 1st series of Homeland over the weekend.
My justification … “Well, it’s the weekend and I need a break.”
A break from what?
Taking more naps?
Watching more TV?
Having coffee and lunch with friends?
Dithering around doing this and that?
Nature sure does hate a vacuum and will fill it.
The problem is that nature doesn’t care what it fills the vacuum with.
And, it appears that in my case, at least, human nature doesn’t care either.
Human nature when not directed by the human will, will choose the path of least resistance towards pleasure and excitement.
It’ll seek instant gratification to soothe its hedonistic nature. It looks at the short game and loses sight of the long game.
It doesn’t want to do the hard yards upfront and delay gratification.
As the late Freddy Mercury sang, “I want it all, I want it all, I want it all, and I want it now.”
I know that if I want to write more books, I can’t have it all right now.
I need to put in the time.
When it comes to “Jacques, the writer”, putting pen to paper should be the only thing that occupies my time.
Hitting the keystrokes in the moment should be enough.
It should absorb me and give me pleasure beyond measure because I’m doing something worthwhile.
I’m writing my own story and fulfilling my destiny.
My wish is that I’ll have left those that have come into contact with me better off for having met me.
One of the ways I can make a small dent in this universe is to use the smidgen of talent I have.
That’s to write.
I’m the pen of someone that’s infinite.
Someone that’s older, wiser and purer than me and has had it figured out for 4-billion+ years.
Someone that already knows what my destiny is.
So, from today onwards I’m need to understand that I’m a creature of habit.
So, I may as well get good habits … like, writing, meditating, journaling and praying.
I need to stop playing small and letting nature fill the vacuums in my life and dictating it.
I need to tap into my human nature and fill the vacuums in my life with worthwhile pursuits.
That is, if I want to play big and reach the finish line with grace.
I want my final thought to be, “Well, played, Jacques. Well played.”
