Only Let the Bad Things Out
Few things nag at the mind like an issue unshared. When we drag it into the light, it diminishes, like a slug shrivelling under the summer sun. That festering feeling, otherwise devastating, is diffused. Were it left, it might boil up and over — lashing out through us. The old adage of “a problem shared is a problem halved” grasps at an important reality: action requires energy, and speaking about something releases the energy that surrounds that thing. In other words, language is a substitute for action.
We all know someone who boasts about their plans with an enthusiasm that demands we believe in their plausibility, if not their inevitability. Temporary admiration is bought with the social currency of such declarations. Then, those plans don’t happen, ever. It feels good to talk about things that excite us. It is such an understandable — and therefore forgivable — thing, that we often overlook the danger of it. A boasted about plan feels like a plan partially completed. Through the simple act of verbalising it, we think it an achievement of sorts. Talk is cheap, but can cost you a lot.
Incidentally, it’s one of the reasons why writing is important. In the delicate dance between language and action, writing marries the two. Rather than letting your words float off into the air, put them down on paper, be that proverbial or not.
Whatever you want to cultivate within you, keep within yourself. If you want dark things to grow inside you then do not share them. If you want the force of ambition to rise up inside you, then keep it bottled. Motivation is an exercise in restraint, not just of outward force. Whatever you let out, you lessen internally. Only let the bad things out, lest they rot you. Keep the good things in — guard them long enough to let them inspire action.
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I don’t know, why, but I was waiting for an article already yesterday. 😃 Good to have it now on my long journey to yet another doc appointment.
Sharing plans with others, imo, is a tricky thing to do. Even in a written form. Unless you keep a some sort of diary or journal, or the digital one no one knows about. People can’t stand the success of others, tho, they smile in your face, therefore, it’s like giving them a slice of a cake on the way to your failure. On the other hand, everyone wants and needs the support, it’s normal, it’s just somehow we have to figure out with whom to share these plans. As there might be people sharpening the daggers behind their backs, and there also might be ones that actually might be helpful, or, at least, who’d be genuinely wishing you best of luck.
So… manifesting the plans are nice and important, so, one convinces themselves that it can become a reality, and believes in that, however, one must be careful with whom they share their plans. It’s probably a matter of a good intuition and also actual life experience.
I have heard that talking about a project too soon releases 'pre-mature' dopamine thus diminishing any interest to actually complete the project. To a certain extent this is true for me, but I also love a certain amount of sharing with close contacts who are going to support and nourish the idea. I'm hungry for that kind of enthusiasm from people.