Everything you do leaves a debt.
The basic law of the Universe is that of karma. Everything you do leaves a debt, be it good or bad.
I use this philosophy for my everyday life. I know that when I will partake in hedonistic pleasures, it will incur a debt, I will have to pay for later.
So, when I have a day that is full of easy things, then I know the second day will be full of difficult things. Thus I try to do very difficult things, so I can have an easy time later.
The same goes for any kind of project. Be it your college project or a work project. When I go for the easy way out, and I make some short-sighted decision, it ALWAYS comes back, sooner or later, and kicks me in the butt.
I can’t say how many times I used a “hacky” solution in a programming project, only for it to bring bugs or other implementation difficulties later on.
Thus, I now I try to go for long-term decisions, that are often hard to make and implement but are the only right thing to do, compared to short-term solutions that will need a rework later.
This concept even has a name in programming - it’s called “technical debt”.
I realized the same thing about my college years. I used to do a lot of college projects at the last minute, and often create them so it worked so-so. I used to study for exams in the last 2 days and have cram sessions, often on some kind of a stimulant.
Now, years later, I am not so confident in my knowledge, even though I have a master’s degree on the subject. Now I wish I paid more ATTENTION in my college years and put a deeper effort into my projects. But I was young and I had other things on my mind.
I read somewhere that the “opposite of love is not hate, but indifference”. Or one could also say “lack of attention”. Paying attention is really what I feel is the most important thing. I regret not paying attention more. It’s the most valuable thing we have.
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
This 3rd Newton’s law could also be described in one word: enantiodromia. It’s a psychological term introduced by Swiss psychiatrist Carl G. Jung, the founder of analytical psychology
“Enantiodromia is the emergence of the unconscious opposite in the course of time. This characteristic phenomenon practically always occurs when an extreme, one-sided tendency dominates conscious life; in time an equally powerful counterposition is built up which first inhibits the conscious performance and subsequently breaks through the conscious control.”
It’s implicit in various complexes, for example the superiority complex. People with superiority complex consciously feel superior to others as a defense mechanism that covers their unconscious feeling of inferiority.
Taoists described this thousands of years ago. In Tao Te Ting, this phenomenon is described in 24th verse:
Those who stand on their toes are not steady.
Those who take long steps cannot keep the pace.
Those who show off do not shine.
Those who are self-righteous are not prominent.
Those who boast are not respected.
Those who praise themselves do not prevail.
Showing off has the exact opposite reaction to what the person expects and wants — his social status decreases. It’s rather fundamental knowledge, that is easy to talk about, but very hard to implement in real life.
This law is incredibly paradoxical, but fundamental, and I feel the whole Universe stands on it. However you call it, it’s here. And it’s important to know about it. Everything you do leaves a debt.
