Four of us were walking through a pumpkin patch the other day when I realised that I could hear everyone else crunching through the old dry stalks, but I couldn't hear myself. I was now in the habit of not making noise. Making noise seems more like a waste of energy.
You've just done a double-take. Isn't it easier to not make noise? Yet, we still think in terms of "making noise". Noise doesn't happen by itself. It's a conscious effort. If you stand still - doing nothing - you don't make noise. If you stomp around, you make a lot of noise. If you walk around lightly, you make less noise. Which takes more effort?
That's not really a valid argument, but many people actually set out to make as much noise as they can when they're walking - they do stomp around, effectively. It may not be intentional; it may not even have been intended (those two are distinct). But, the fact of the matter is, that if you want to make less noise, you walk more lightly & the effort is, at least initially, in stopping yourself from assaulting the ground with your feet.
This is another example of mindfulness - being fully aware of exactly what you are doing at each moment as your foot comes down, & not letting a moment slip by without being within it. If your mind is on the end of the pumpkin patch, rather than the ground beneath your feet, then not only are you more likely to step on stalks, fall into holes unexpectedly, & sway like a drunkard, but you may not even notice that you're doing it. How do you think others might see you if they can't see that you're traversing a rutted field - if they're over a rise?
You might well say "Why would I care?" Again, I say that if you don't care about what you're doing each moment, then you're missing out on half your enjoyment. If you have your eyes on the end of the field, rather than the dirt beneath your feet, then you're going to miss the shining object dropped by someone else walking this ground as unaware as you. You're going to miss out on the way the ground was ploughed to best take advantage of the northern sun, the slope of the land, the drainage, the way the soil gets sandy off to the edge, the richness of the earth beneath you.
If you're going to go through a field without wanting to be in the field & without caring about the field itself, then why not skip the whole journey & go around the field? Why not ask someone to carry you across with your eyes closed?
Even though most people don't want to be in the field, they know that they have to accept that everyone has to cross the field. They just don't like it, they don't want to acknowledge that there are fields that have to be crossed, as if all agricultural questions are beneath them. Such people usually get to the other side of the field, shrug their shoulders, & then move to the next field with the same attitude & a sense of surprise that they've found themselves in a field - again!
I say, be outstanding in your field.
