Beginner’s guide to not ever give up

I often wonder why I meditate. It takes up so much time and I have not been able to produce apples out of thin air yet. As I pondering over this deep life question, I came up with this story ..

There was once an ice cube being all lonely on the counter top. There was a water spill near by and it wanted to merge with the spill so it could have fun. The room where it lay was at 28 degrees F, so it talked to the room and asked it to raise its temperature so it could melt and merge with the water spill.

The room wanted to help its friend, so it started increasing the temperature by a degree every minute. It went from 28 degrees to 29, ice cube did not melt. It went from 29 degrees to 30, ice cube did not melt. It went from 30 degrees to 31, ice cube did not melt.

Ice cube got frustrated and was starting to give up all hope and resign to its fate of being lonely. Just then, magic happened. The temperature of the room went from 31 degrees to 32 and ice cube started melting and merging with the water spill.

” Complaining about not achieving success despite working hard is like complaining about an ice cube that did not melt when you heated it from 25 degrees to 31 degrees. Your work was not wasted, it was being stored. All the action happens at 32 degrees F” says James Clear in his book Atomic Habits.

I shall continue meditating, who knows I might pluck an apple out of thin air anytime now :-), ’bout time!