Dishes

I read a very interesting post on the Happiness Project about calculation in relationships. It described how a person adds up actions and responses.

I did the dishes today so you must do them tomorrow. I changed the diaper so you must do the next one.

It made me realize that I do this a lot. I am very strange about money. I hate when people I love try and give me money. It makes me feel that I must pay them back even if they do not expect to be payed back. I am also a track keeper of who payed for the last meal out, the last movie, ect… I keep track so that I know if I owe them a payment in return.

This circles back to a Buddhist idea that has been rolling around in my head.

A student asks his mentor what he can do to be a better student after a meal. The monk asks if the student has finished his meal. The student says yes he has. The monk replies that he should wash his bowl since he is finished.

It is a simple idea. Do what you need to do now instead of waiting to do it all at once. If you used a bowl, wash it then, not later. If you change clothes, hang up the clothes then.

It does not take much time to do any of these, yet if we wait till be have a mass of dishes or clothes it can take a very long time. This is part of the Buddhist belief that you must live in the moment. I may need to try this. In my goal to fight procrastination, living in the moment would help immensely.

Something to think about.

(image is from here, http://willows95988.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/10/28/dishes.jpg)