Let it soak - the path of least resistance
I have a frypan that I use everyday to cook my lunch of burgers and bacon. I wash it by hand each day after I finish eating my lunch. Over time the pan has become harder to clean and the food gets stuck to it more easily. Most days I stay at the kitchen sinking working away at cleaning the pan before I go back to my computer and return to my work. Occasionally I’ll leave the pan to soak, but hardly ever.
Yesterday I asked myself why am I standing here each day, working away at this pan, when I can just let it soak, come back later, and I’ll be able to clean it in a matter of moments? And that got me thinking about the futility of working away at anything with this type of effort, when letting it soak and coming back to it later would be a much easier way. At some point yesterday I went back in to the kitchen and was surprised to find the pan soaking in the sink. I really had forgotten all about it. And as expected cleaning it took moments and little effort.
Abraham is always telling us about the path of least resistance. We might know what it means intellectually, but how many of us really follow it? I think one way to get to know what it means for you and what it feels like for you is to practice it with the small things. What are some things that you do each day that you can see you’re doing the hard way, but you could take a ‘let it soak’ mentality about? Think of some physical tasks or activities.
What about mentally, in your thoughts and beliefs? Which thoughts are you working hard at, when you could just have a ‘let it soak’ mentality and see what arises? I had been putting a lot of effort into thinking about the bathroom floor. My partner uses all sorts of creams and lotions, especially when he gets ready to play sport, and he likes to keep the bathroom at a steamy temperature. What used to end up happening is that the drops of creams and lotions, combined with the steam, and him walking around the bathroom in the shoes he was wearing, was creating a total disaster all over the bathroom floor. And it was irritating the hell out of me. I was spending a lot of my time thinking thoughts about this horrible floor and having to live in a pigsty and all sorts of frustrated and angry thoughts. I had tried the usual physical actions which included cleaning the floor often and asking him to be more mindful of the floor, without trying to be a nag. More wasted effort. So what was the path of least resistance in this case? At first I thought it was accepting the state of things and cleaning the floor. Then I realised it was not looking at the floor.
That’s right. Not looking at the floor. Pretending it didn’t exist. Putting my focus somewhere else. Letting the floor be the floor and letting me be me with different focus and different thoughts. Basically I decided to let the whole issue soak for awhile instead of expending so much effort on it.
What was the result? My partner decided to change the shoes he was wearing around the house. And suddenly the floor is clean and un-streaked. Always. Now to clean it I’ll actually have to remember that I should clean it. Not only that, but my partner made another improvement in the bathroom. He used to keep plastic bags of dirty sports clothes piled up near the washing machine, waiting until there was a sizeable load before washing them. The washing machine is right next to the basin. It was an ugly and unpleasant experience with these bright green plastic bags! He decided it was unsightly (I’ve never said a thing about it) and created a new space to store these, a space that is out of sight. So now the bathroom is so neat and tidy and I actually enjoy being in there!
To get into the path of least resistance, try letting things soak. You’ll come back to them, at some point. And when you do, you’ll see that you no longer need to apply any effort, and like me and my bathroom, you may also find that not only has the soaking resulted in a the desired result, but has also transformed into something much better than expected.
