You're lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. Go to sleep, you tell yourself. You shut your eyes tight, force your body to relax, and wait for the pleasant sleep to come. But nothing happens. It's 3 a. m. , and you're still staring at the ceiling.
We have all been in this situation. Try as we might, it is nearly impossible to consciously will yourself to sleep. Sleep comes to those who let their mind wander and focus on anything other than sleep itself. Count sheep, control your breathing, listen to an audiobook (有声书), or whatever - so long as it turns your mind from wanting to sleep. This is a common example of the "law of reversed effort. "
The Law of Reversed Effort was first created by Aldous Huxley. "The harder we try with the conscious will to do something, the less we shall succeed. " Suppose, for instance, that you are learning how to ride a bike. You are told to hold the handlebars, to push off with this foot, to pedal at that speed, to hold your balance here, and so on. When riding, we know all these instructions, but we do not try to do them. They just happen. In Huxley's words, it's "combining relaxation with activity. "
There's a spiritual way of viewing the "law of reversed effort" as well. It's something that has a much longer history than Aldous Huxley - it's the Daoist idea of "Wu Wei. " It is to walk the path that opens up and push the door that gives. Call it fate, divine (神圣的) calling, or whatever, but Wu Wei is to stop doing what you think is right, and to let yourself be pulled by some other power. Wu Wei is the grass bending in the wind. It's the stick riding down the river.
There are many moments in life when trying harder makes things worse. When you have a mosquito (蚊子) bite, a broken bone, or a nosebleed, you leave it be. Picking and tapping only worsen the problem. So, too, with a lot of life's major moments.
