In practice, the Calm Principle means you don't plan your evening's entertainment while you're working during the day; you don't eat while you're watching the television; you don't worry about tomorrow's deadlines while you're performing today's tasks; you never try to do two things at once. You concentrate all of your attention on one single task or activity, on one moment at a time - that is the Calm Principle.
It is important to recognize that the Calm Principle is not concerned with subjugation of the normal workings of the mind. The Calm Principle is about directing your efforts in a more efficient and orderly fashion. Concentrating attention on a single activity is an exercise in centring, just like the Calm Technique. It frees the mind of all distractions and brings maximum effectiveness to each task you perform. And when you have centred your attention, you will work more efficiently with an ever-present sense of calm and fulfilment, regardless of how strenuous the activity is.
When you can focus your attention on the present, you will produce your greatest effort for each individual moment. This is the most efficient way of working; it is also the ideal way for human beings to function. You achieve little when you flit from one subject to another every thirty seconds, or when you concern yourself with the past or the future as you perform other actions. (Not thinking about the past and future also has the calming effect of eliminating most of the problems you think you face.) You can really only do one thing effectively at one time; trying to do more tends to produce less.
If you pay meticulous attention to your most minor undertakings, giving the best you are capable of at that moment, you'll be surprised at how calming it can be. Attempting to do several things at once createe anxiety, limits your effectiveness and seldom seems to help deadlines much at all.
On the surface, the Calm Principle appears to go against the conservative ideal by which most of us have been raised: that is, living for the present is short-sighted and self-indulgent; preparing for the future is commendable. This is not what's intended by the Calm Principle. Insisting that your attention be fully focused on what you're doing - the present - does not imply that you should ignore planning. To plan is an activity of the present - you can devote all your attention to this one task for a specified time, make your plans, then move on to your next task. If every activity you undertake is accompanied by concerns for what's ahead, you will be living in a state of tension. Whereas, if you make your plans, then apply your full attention to following them, your efforts are fully directed in the present - and this is the most calming and effective way to operate.
Apply the Calm Principle to driving your car, and you'll drive it in the best and most complete way you can. The driving will absorb all of your attention. You shouldn't distract yourself by compiling a shopping list as you drive or listening to talkback radio. Be totally engrossed in your driving, do it completely and to the best of your ability. Concentrated attention will not only make you one of the safest and most conscientious drivers on the road, but one of the most peaceful.
Take a lesson from your children. Watch how the uncomplicated child lives each moment for the pleasure of that moment. Watch how she or he becomes totally absorbed in the colouring-in, or the sweeping of the floor, or the fantasy of the game. Consider how calm she or he is at that moment. Because children have yet to learn how to worry and distract themselves, they apply the Calm Principle naturally. It is only later in life, when they grow older and 'wiser' that they learn to ignore this fundamental behaviour.
You may argue that a child doesn't have the responsibilities and problems which adults are forced to endure. This is so. But adults so often assume responsibilities and problems that they have no hope of controlling or solving at that moment. If you spend the next fifteen years worrying about how you're going to afford to enjoy your retirement, you'll have wasted fifteen years and probably soured yourself for retirement anyway. If you must worry about a problem, then set aside a period of time for worrying about that problem. Apply all of your attention to it for a specified period of time, then go on to your next task or activity. If you find you have too much on your plate to be able to devote all of your attention to one task at a time, you have too much on your plate! Simple, isn't it?
You can apply the Calm Principle to everything you do. When you're eating, savour every smell, sight and bite (you'll eat less this way and appreciate it more), be totally aware of even the most subtle colours, tastes and textures; become one with the eating. The same when you're washing the dishes. Or pulling the weeds. Or painting a landscape. Or reading a book. If you want to listen to the radio, turn it on and listen to it completely. Don't listen to it while you're reading. It is a popular misconception that having the radio playing while you drive or work is relaxing. It is distracting. And even though it may take your mind off the task somewhat, it does so at the expense of your sense of calm. It creates restlessness.
Dividing your attention creates tension; centring your attention on only one activity (concentration) is not only calming, but is the most productive way you can function.
-- This excerpt was taken from The Calm Technique by Paul Wilson
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