The title "Effortless efforts". Is it an oxymoron? It is not necessarily so. It depends on how you define efforts.
When I started learning dancing, somehow I liked it. I came to classes. I spent hours on dance floor. I danced with a lot of different people. I watched a bunch of dances, in live performances and in videos. I did exercises and stretching regularly to stay fit and healthy. And I never saw these as making efforts. It was a series of fun time for me. It is not limited to dancing. There are some things I just do without anybody asking for me to do, and I do not feel like I am making efforts for them. As a result, I tend to appreciate them and become good at them.
I realized that all other things are quite similar. What we like and dislike defines what we likely spend our time and efforts for. And time and efforts are the door to become good at it. There is a positive feedback loop here.
How about the opposite? What if I ask someone who does not like dancing to do the same? Probably it is long hours of torture for him.What if I have to force myself to do something I don't like? I don't see myself having a lot of fun. Efforts become efforts. Tedious. Tiring. Boring. Something I would want to get rid of. Spending a lot of time and making efforts for it? No way.
With all reservations that I'd suck at anything at first, and it will take time to start appreciating it, still there are some things I am not cut out for. Sure, patience is important. But I do have my cut-off line to sort things out. If I want to stay happy, a good strategy would be to stick to what I like.
However, here comes another factor. To live in this society, we (most of us anyway) will need to make money. What we like, do, and spend time for; will it make money? This is a relevant question. Anything half-as*ed just don't work under professional standards. That's why we usually take long hours of training to be a professional for something.
If it does not make money, it is a hobby. We need to find something else for living. Hopefully, that something else (your job) is also something you like.
Tricky thing about life is that it is not always easy to find what we really like. And turning what we like to something that makes money is another critical transition. Critical transition from a service consumer to a service provider.
If you can find something that you can make effortless efforts for, and if it turns to be something you do for living, it is great. I believe it is an important task and responsibility for each of us to aim at.
Last weekend, I went to Tulsa for a milonga at Casa Tango and for a WCS party (at a new studio, Just Dance Swing Club). I met some new people. It was fun. I appreciate the people who made these happen.
