“You are what your deep, driving desire is. As your desire is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny.

― Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

Nature doesn’t think, it doesn’t plot, it doesn’t plan. It exists. It does what it is born to do, to exist as it is. Flowers don’t try to bloom, they just bloom. Grass doesn’t try to grow, it just grows. Animals do not ruminate. Yes, they have fleeting bits of emotion and desire but they don’t live in their minds. Fish don’t try to swim – they swim. Birds don’t try to fly- they fly.  Their actions are innate. Nature functions effortlessly, without friction, spontaneously. It’s called natural intelligence. To boil it down to a simple phrase, “do less, accomplish more.” Those who are long term investors can grasp the concept. You plant a seed and you allow it to bloom, you don’t keep digging it up. 

As humans, we have this incredible gift of consciousness. We can think … not only are we here, but we know we are here and we know that we are thinking and talking and walking around and making choices with each breath that we take, each word we utter, each thought we allow into our heads. When we are in tune with our true selves, our actions – the way we move in the world – are motivated by love. Nature is held together by the energy of love. And the best of humanity is held together by love. People in the flow of their talents … artists, healers, athletes, sages, nurturers, teachers … they are so exemplary at what they do because they love what they do. The energy of love carries them through it all, and love is a multiplier so they receive even more energy to keep expanding outward. 

On the flip side, there are those of us who are overly distracted by our egos. We expend a lot of energy seeking power, security – emotional, financial, spiritual, we seek control over others or our environments, we want to know exactly how everything is going to turn out so we can plan 

ahead for it and master it and feel invulnerable, safe, prepared. Well, all of that plotting and planning and effort is extremely draining of energy. You thought you were stockpiling reserves for the future but you were so busy toiling away you didn’t realize you are already complete. I personally have seen a lot of wonderfully intelligent and talented people spend their lives in the grip of constant stress and toil and effort, and die untimely deaths as a result of it. 

The three components of the law of least effort are

1. Acceptance. Accept this moment as it is. Whatever is happening right now is not wrong. It just is. The whole universe is as it should be. When you struggle against this moment, you are actually struggling against the entirety of the universe. What do you think – is that a wise situation to put yourself in? Make a promise to yourself, Today I will accept people, situations, circumstances and events as they occur. 
2. Responsibility. Responsibility means not blaming anyone or anything for your situation, including yourself. Responsibility means having the ABILITY to RESPOND to the situation as it is right now. It is what it is and here is how I am going to proceed. What’s liberating about this approach is that you’re not trapped, you are empowered to decide what reaction you are going to choose. 
3. Defenselessness. This one is particularly hard in our culture today, where people like to define themselves by their beliefs, their values, their information sources, their tribal memberships. It’s not enough that we believe OUR path is the RIGHT path … we want “those other people” to know and agree that our way is superior. But here’s the secret, when you stop defending, building up and reinforcing your point of view, you free up all kinds of energy. When you have no point to defend, you don’t allow the birth of an argument. This is the path of least resistance. This is the free flow where you get to true creativity, new dimensions, new solutions, new paths.