No Effort is Wasted

Take a block of ice that’s been frozen to minus fifty degrees centigrade, and start heating it. For some time, nothing happens. Lot of energy for no visible result. Suddenly, at zero, it melts into water!

Keep heating. Again, lot of energy and no excitement. Then, at around one hundred degrees centigrade, bubbles and steam! It boils!

The principle? It’s possible to put lots of energy into something – eg. A block of ice, a project, a career – yet it seems like nothing is happening. Actually, your energy is already producing change, but you just cannot see it. Continue to put your energy in and you will surely see a transformation. Remember the principle, and you don’t panic so much – and you don’t despair.

I like to picture my life as a pinball game. Every time I make any effort – tidy my desk, write a book, help a friend, practice drawing, pay a bill, try and fail – I’m scoring points. I think of all my efforts as adding to my “universal credit”. I never know how many points I’ll need for my next rewards. It helps me, enjoy what I’m doing rather than demand instant results. And every so often, usually when I least expect it, “Bingo!” – a new opportunity, an invitation, a cheque in the mail.