Making The Best Of Any Situation

[Orange]

When you are forced to do something you don't enjoy, how can you make the best of this type of situation and use it to your benefit instead of it being a pain? 

 

[Nahm]

Hi Orange. Great topic. Can you give any examples? 

[Nahm]

Are we talking about a job to pay the bills, having to play hide the pickle again with grandma, brushing your teeth? 

[Orange]

29 minutes ago, Nahm said:

Are we talking about a job to pay the bills, having to play hide the pickle again with grandma, brushing your teeth? 

Hey Nahm, yes. I was being general..

what is this game ? 'hide the pickle'? Is it nice? 

So here are two examples that lead me to this question: 

One example is: I am visiting my grandparents and my grandma asks me to clean all her little objects that are taking up dust on the shelves. For me it sounds like such a waste of time, there are so many objects and they have no purpose apart from remembering the past, but she has a strong emotional connection to them which i understand. But in the end, she cannot do everything on her own, so I will help except in my mind I'd rather just throw everything away and I end up frustrated because on one hand I want to help her but I don't want to spend my time on objects when I could spend this time with her. And she will be in another corner of the house doing something else whilst I am in another room cleaning. So it's not like we spend this time together. 

Another example is the one you mentioned: doing a job to pay the bills. I have to finance personal projects and I need to find a job but most of them go against my values. How can I be at peace with it, and how would a wise person react in my position? (right now, im just hating everything and everyone, including myself) 

 

 

[Nahm]

@Orange sorry to hear of your current state. Sounds rough. 

Use a duster.

I can't be forced to do something I don't want to do.

So what is the difference between us?

 

[Orange]

1 hour ago, Nahm said:

 

So what is the difference between us?

 

You say no,  and I say yes 

 

 

I will dust your little angels grandma, all of them ..

[Steph1988]

I am often not too happy with the jobs i worked but often kinda found a way to deal with it best i can.

Working in the kitchen can be very tiring sometimes,long days, annoying boss, stress and sometimes just very boring but it gets slightly better now because i try to make to best of it. 

- i have many colleagues so u experiment on the different personalities working there like seeing the petty power struggles, working on social skills, little bit of flirting when having the opportunity etc.

- when i need to get something i have to go upstairs i always run the stairs and when i come down there is a little thing to grab on too so i can practice pull ups.

- practicing mindfulness when doing boring tasks like opening oysters for an hour actually a good exercise.

- breaking time records for all kinds of stuff i do and keeping track of those.

this could be an example i think to make the best of it.

 

 

 

[Orange]

2 hours ago, Steph1988 said:

I am often not too happy with the jobs i worked but often kinda found a way to deal with it best i can.

Working in the kitchen can be very tiring sometimes,long days, annoying boss, stress and sometimes just very boring but it gets slightly better now because i try to make to best of it. 

- i have many colleagues so u experiment on the different personalities working there like seeing the petty power struggles, working on social skills, little bit of flirting when having the opportunity etc.

- when i need to get something i have to go upstairs i always run the stairs and when i come down there is a little thing to grab on too so i can practice pull ups.

- practicing mindfulness when doing boring tasks like opening oysters for an hour actually a good exercise.

- breaking time records for all kinds of stuff i do and keeping track of those.

this could be an example i think to make the best of it.

 

 

 

thanks, i like this

[FirstglimpseOMG]

I think I often go into meditative self-inquiry when I'm doing a sinkful of dishes. (Gaargh!) I qualify it as meditative if the (ego-elicited) boredom or distaste of a task gets me 'daydreaming' or contemplating the nature of myself and reality. Before you know it I haved done the dishes completely automatically & unconsciously without being aware of the work I'm doing. Meanwhile my body has either relaxed into a more peaceful, easy stance, or forgotten to be so contracted at least.

It's kind of the opposite of being in the now though. Even if the daydreaming is about spirituality or enlightenment, it's still an avoidance of the present moment. The is-ness thang. 

Sometimes I can manage the different & more emotionally labour-intensive method of changing things up to 'make the best' of that is-ness with total presence & no escapism. Say you had 40 figurines to polish & place. It could turn into play pretty quick if you thoroughly explored the contours & textures of each peace, just enjoying the sensation on your fingertips & palms, & loving the fact that you are able to have the perceptions & sensations. The mind may wander a bit & try and arrange the figurines somewhat differently than they were, according to some theme or whatever (size, colour, type). Maybe you just try and mess with grandma's reality for fun by hiding some of the figurines to see if she notices. Maybe she'll quit it with that pickle thing.