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Delay Gratification and Enjoy the Climb
Insights from the countryside.
No.007 — Read on Tinyfarmlab.com
Welcome to Tiny Farm Friends Newsletter.
Every Sunday we share practical insights, and valuable life lessons gained from living in the mountains and working with natural materials to empower you to live a more intentional, authentic, and meaningful life.
Reading Time 3 minutes
“ An old man in Calcutta would walk to get water from a well every day. He’d carry a clay pot and lower it by hand slowly, all the way down, careful not to let it hit the sides of the well and break.
Once it was full, he’d raise the pot slowly and carefully again. It was a focused, time-consuming act.
One day, a traveler noticed the old man engaged in this difficult task. More experienced with mechanics, he showed the old man how to use a pulley system.
“This will allow the pot to go straight down quickly,” the traveler explained, “then fill with water and come back up, without hitting the sides. It’s much easier and the pot will be just as full with much less work.”
The old man looked at him and said, “I think I’m going to keep doing it the way I always have. I really have to think about each movement and there’s a great deal of care that goes into doing it right. I’d imagine if I were to use the pulley, it would become easy and I might even start thinking about something else while doing it. If I put so little care and time into it, what might the water taste like? It couldn’t possibly taste as good.”
The initial plan was to build a cob oven in the first month.
The cob house in the first month.
Host events, have pizza parties, and night movie screenings.
After 2.5 years we are still finishing the house.
Initially, we had a choice to employ an army of hired workers and finish the house. We voluntarily chose to run a marathon instead of sprinting to the finish line.
You do not get the same fulfillment when you build something
vs
When you acquire something
We were not building to win but building to build.
You are the output of the work.
Ansh and Raghav
It is not about what you are building,
but it is about who you become in the process.
The skills you acquire.
The character you build.
The art you create.
The memories you share.
The self-discoveries you make.
The discipline you inculcate.
Every benefit compounds.
Sometimes this journey is also not becoming anything but un-becoming everything that you are not.
When you start paying closer attention to nature, you become closer to your own nature.
Taking it slow, allowed us to be with the land and listen to it more deeply.
We watched where the water flowed after it rained.
Where did the sun rise and where it hid behind the mountains?
But if someone just drove you up to the top of that mountain? If you just sat your butt in a car, turned on the AC, and cruised up to the top? It would not be the same. You didn’t sweat and sacrifice to get up there. The drink of water you took on the mountaintop wouldn’t taste as invigorating. The air wouldn’t feel as amazing. The view wouldn’t be as inspiring. You can only get true fulfillment and happiness from enjoying the achievement you made happen yourself.
Delaying gratification is one of the highest human virtues.
In a world where we get instant gratification through likes, followers, and views,
building the house has been about training our ability to delay gratification.
Wishing you an incredible Sunday!
Raghav and Ansh
P.S. - Our second video releases today evening at 6 P.M. IST on YouTube.
Why I quit my corporate job and then the city
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