TOTAL READ TIME: 4 Minutes
Just step online, open a magazine or talk to a friend and you’ll get a lot of them. Those adds.
Ads, you mean Kathy? No. I’m not talking about advertisements; I’m talking about adds…additions. We are fed hundreds of solutions every day to fix every problem in our lives.
Why does every solution out there suggest adding to our lives, but not subtracting?
For example: try this to improve sleep. Buy that to fix gut issues. Buy this for self-care. Try these family night ideas to connect with your kids. Three new ways to throw your next fun party. Plan this vacation to find that happiness. Start this new hobby to find fulfillment.
Tangent: I’m starting to sound like Andy Rooney, the former cynical commentator at the end of CBS’s 60 Minutes television program who warmed America’s hearts by complaining for his entire five-minute segment. Bear with me please, I’ll get back to the true intention of 2 Minute Lift, short reads to flip our script.
Back to the topic of adds. Don’t get me started on the adds of how to lose weight. Vegan. Carnivore. Paleo. Ketogenic. Scales. Celery. Minerals. Blueberries. More water. Electrolytes. More movement. Start this program. Buy this gear.
We do it to each other too. Friendly conversations with positive intent, we can’t help but offer ideas to solve each other’s woes.
Now to the point: it’s all rubbish advice. We’ve become addicted to addition. I’ve spent most of my life using addition to solve various perceived problems in my life. But we have the equation wrong. Why on earth would we start adding anything until we first subtract?
To stop my own addition addiction, I am in full subtraction mode.
I’ve subtracted by eradicating news, clicking unsubscribe and reducing time on social media. I’ve subtracted all snacks and most drinks. I’m subtracting via a fasting practice. Coming this fall will be subtracting physical clutter. Yes, I’m talking to you, dusty vase tucked on the back shelf. I’m talking to you, the nine casserole pans in various shapes and sizes.
This is a hard journey, but it’s nothing compared to the hardest subtraction exercise of all: Subtracting the mind. How can we possibly quiet the endless chatter playing on repeat? How do we tame the inner critic or the list of shoulds that play non-stop?
Perhaps we can find clues by stretching back to the stories embedded throughout all time. The wisest tales in any culture and religion are stories of subtraction. Stilling the mind to hear the solution. There is Moses who hiked the mountain to hear God. There is Jesus who walked the desert for forty days and nights. Buddha sat underneath a tree. Native American elders and shamans sit in ceremony. These stories teach us that getting quiet, or subtracting, is the answer. (Also, please note that nature was their life-hack.)
Where has addition become an addiction in your life? How can subtraction offer a little space and silence that may guide you to the solution?
Clearly, I won’t have a future in subtraction shop sales. But perhaps we can throw our additions on the front lawn and have a heck of a garage sale.
“She wanted Peace. So she played beautiful music, painted beautiful expressions. It was not enough. She went on long walks. Gave away possessions. Smiled more. Stopped multitasking. Not enough. She bought more reverent clothing. Read spiritual books. Spoke spiritual words. Not enough. She changed her relationships. Attended classes. Cut her hair. Improved her diet. Attended worship. Found a new job. Traveled. Came back. All of it, not enough. Then, one day, she looked inside herself, the place she had run from all her life. She found two Truths: the concentrated ego of suffering and fear, and the simmering ember of Peace. Realizing that Peace was a seed already inside her, she decided to try something new. She decided to Love more. Herself. Others. All things. In every moment. She opened. The ocean inside came out. The ocean outside came in. She dissolved in two oceans. Became immeasurable Lightness. She found Peace. Love is the sunlight that awakens the seed of Peace.” - Jaiya John