Keep on Churning

I like to eat peanut butter that is "natural", meaning the only ingredients are mashed-up peanuts and salt.  When this creamy mixture sits on the shelf in the store, over time the oil separates from the peanut mixture and rises to the top of the jar, so that when I open it, the first step is to use a knife to stir up the jar so the two parts recombine.

Most of the time this not hard, but if the jar has been sitting on the shelf for a long time, the peanuts can solidify and form a stiff semi-solid that is physically difficult to mix up by hand.  It's tiring on the hands and forearms, and it's easy to slosh the oil over the rim and make a mess.

When I first start with a difficult jar, the first few churning motions are really tough.  Sometimes I want to give up right then.  But after 5 circular motions, it gets a tiny bit easier.  After 10 motions, it gets a little bit easier again.  After 20 motions, it's usually not bad at all, and I'm glad I stuck with it.  And after 25-30 motions, I'm done! 

I try to remember this lesson anytime I begin an activity that is particularly difficult at the start.  It could be trying a new workout exercise, or writing a complicated contract, or having a hard conversation, or tackling a home repair task. Some tasks are worth abandoning because the outcome is truly not worth the effort.  But if I give myself time to work through the initial struggles, I often find that the difficulty is not as high as I initially perceived, and it changes my calculus of whether the task is worthwhile.  The initial awkwardness does not last forever.  And once I start to build momentum, I'm glad (and proud) that I didn't give up.