Simple Doesn't Always Mean Easy.

And that's okay as long as you keep practicing and don't give up.

A common mistake people often make is thinking “simple” and “easy” mean the same thing. That if something is “simple” to do, it is also “easy” to do. But that is not automatically true and it is certainly not always the case.

An example is when I was a paramedic and needed to perform CPR (“cardiopulmonary resuscitation”), which is what you do on a patient who is not breathing and whose heart has stopped beating. In other words, they are dead and you are trying to get oxygen into their lungs and brain and get their heart started again to bring them back to life. The skill set of alternating blowing air into a person’s lungs while pressing repeatedly down on their chest is a simple concept. But as anyone who has done CPR, especially for a prolonged period of time, will tell you: it is anything but easy. To do effective CPR requires a physical strength and cadence that is physically demanding and fatiguing. It is also an emotionally draining activity. Especially when a patient’s family is watching and hoping beyond all hope that your efforts will bring their loved one back to life.

“Simple” and “easy” are two entirely separate and distinct concepts. Whether something is “simple” is based on how complex or complicated something is. A “simple” concept, action plan or process is straight forward and/or to the point. Whereas whether something is “easy” is based on how much effort and/or energy needs to be exerted or spent in order to accomplish or effectuate the task. An “easy” task requires minimal amounts of energy or effort to complete.

For example, take the “burpee” exercise. If you know, then you know where I’m going with this. But if you don’t, a burpee is a dynamic movement where you start standing, drop down into a push up position, do the push up, then jump back up to a standing position. It is a very basic and simple body exercise that requires minimal physical coordination, little available space, and no free weights or machines.

On the other hand, actually doing a burpee, or multiple burpees in succession, at least in my opinion, is anything but easy except for maybe well-trained athletes. Burpees require a significant amount of physical energy and exertion and a decent level of cardiovascular fitness to do several in succession, making it one of the least easy or more difficult exercises to do.

So a burpee is simple, but not easy. But interestingly, the burpee’s combo of being simple but not easy makes it one of the most accessible and effective exercises for improving one’s overall functional body strength and cardiovascular fitness. In other words, being simple but not easy, is not a bad characteristic. It is beneficial and improves the effectiveness of a burpee as a training tool. It allows us to improve our conditioning through continually doing or practicing the exercise.

The “simple doesn't mean easy” principle doesn’t just apply to physical activities. More than 2500 years ago, a man in India, named Siddhartha, sat under a ficus tree and, after seeing the morning star, became “enlightened” and known as “the Buddha,” leading to the creation of a philosophy and religion known as “Buddhism.” Regardless of whether you believe the story or adhere to Buddhist practices, one of its core teachings is “impermanence.” That everything begins and ends, and thus, each moment in our life is an opportunity to start anew; to start fresh. Each moment is the end of the last moment, and the start of the next. In other words, nothing is permanent. No matter how good, bad, difficult or easy something is, it is not permanent. It is a temporary situation that will inevitably change.

This particular post won’t dwell deeply into the Buddhist teachings. However, that particular message: that nothing is permanent and that all things, people and situations change, moment to moment, is a very simple, powerful concept to carry through life. Because it can help our perception when we may be dealing with a difficult time or circumstance. Hang in there - it will change.

But while it may be a simple concept, it certainly is not an easy one to remember and put into action, especially when we are caught up in the throes of powerful emotions such as anger or lust or the grips of our strong personal opinions about a person or thing. Rather than being able to let those feelings or opinions enter and leave our minds like guests stopping by our house for a cup of coffee, we grab on to those feelings or opinions and start creating internal narratives and story lines about how horrible so-and-so is for how they acted or how they treated us. And before we know it, we are all spun up and agitated over how we were treated and enraged at being belittled in some way. All because instead of seeing the emotions or opinions for what they are - temporary, transient guests in our mind, we’ve allowed them to stay and grasped on to them, solidifying them and incorporating them as part of our identity.

All because we couldn't actualize and remember the simple message of impermanence. And why is that? Because doing so is not easy. The simple concept of impermanence is not an easy one that does not necessarily sit with our habitual thought process, which is that safety is found in things that are seemingly permanent and stable. This means we get caught up in whatever we are feeling and experiencing in the moment. We want stability, even if what we grasp on for stability is a feeling or opinion that doesn't help us or anyone else in the long term.

So how does this all apply to “practicing life?” The practice exists in a couple of different ways. First, the practice is to remember the distinction between simple and easy. It’s in reminding ourselves that just because something is simple, does not automatically mean it is easy to do. The practice exists in trying to remember this distinction and to be kinder to ourselves for having difficulty doing something or grasping some concept that is simple. Second, the practice is to know and appreciate that we can, and should, give ourselves the patience and space to practice whatever it is that’s difficult as many times as needed to hopefully make it a little easier the next time we experience whatever it is that is giving us difficulty. To remind ourselves that “Hey, it’s okay..I had some difficulty this time. But next time, I’ll try again,” and hopefully take what we’ve learned to make it a little easier the next time around.

It is also important to remember that there are times when something that is simple may be easy one time, and then not easy the next because of changed circumstances. And that is okay too because, as mentioned above, things are not permanent and are always changing. Including our personal situations and the circumstances in which we find ourselves. And those changing situations and circumstances may provide an entirely different landscape for how something, or some relationship, presents itself.

Remember: the overall arching practice is to remind ourselves to think of life as one big practice and to just keep “practicing” whatever it is we are working on at that particular moment. And of course, this practice, itself, is not always easy to remember and effectuate. But I continue to try and offer that you try too. So the next time I’m in jiu jitsu class and watch the coach demonstrate a technique in a simple, step-by-step manner, and think to myself, “this looks simple, should be easy,” and then go with my partner to practice the move, only to get confused, lost and frustrated, maybe I’ll be able to be a little kinder to myself, and remind myself that “simple doesn’t always mean easy.”

Be well.