A lot of times “doing the right thing” involves giving without expecting. At least in the near future. Cleaning up trash from the road will not make your city clean instantly. But if you did it all your life, educated people to do the same, if a high percentage of people buy into the concept and clean up after themselves and if the government supports the initiative, your city will be clean. But that’s so far away and long-drawn that it makes your deed seem too trivial. But the truth is that your deed is critical. Just small. And if enough of these small droplets come together, we have an ocean of change.
Similarly, obeying traffic rules or even just stopping when the light is red is stressful today. It’s only when you wait that you notice the number of people that jump the red and as the timer counts down you think maybe you should do the same. As you see more people take the easy way out, doing the right thing seems to be a meaningless chore. Chore maybe, but not meaningless. Like the previous example, what’s there to gain is huge. But the effort required is huge too and the time it takes for you to see your efforts come to life is probably years if not decades away.
But this is the case with doing the right thing - A series of countless small deeds over a period of time come together to produce a result that is larger than life. A clean country with citizens who follow traffic rules is one such result.
Health is another. Eating a bowl of spinach will not make you big and strong instantly like Popeye. Spending an hour three days a week working out will not make you make you a star performer. Shutting that computer down and de-stressing will not improve productivity or lipid profile immediately. Getting a few minutes of sunlight today will not boost your vitamin D and scorch all the fat by tomorrow.
But doing all or most of this day after day, month after month, year after year, will make you fitter and healthier and produce results that are larger than life.
You will look, feel and function better, and hence become more confident and experience more of what life has to offer.
You will fall sick less often and hence not spend time and money on hospitals. Life will be easier with less health issues to deal with, which will give you more time to deal with your other issues or experience and enjoy life or make a difference for someone else.
So instead of obsessing about your bodyweight and mindlessly buying diets, supplements and exercise sessions, think bigger. Health is the cumulative effect of a million tiny deeds performed over a period of many years. The smarter and stronger your choices, the healthier you will be.
And the more sustainable and inspirational your actions, the better the world that you will create around yourself. Take the time to see the big picture and make it a part of you to do the right thing, health and otherwise.
