The Less You Do, the More You Do

I love the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall.  It was funny and feel good. It was set in Hawaii.  It had a hilarious cast. Lots going for it already…

But there is this scene I think back to all the time.

Paul Rudd plays this surf instructor.  He’s teaching Jason Segel’s character how to surf on the beach. And he starts out by saying:

“Don’t do anything. The less you do, the more you do.”

And then when Jason Segel’s character gives it a go and pops up into the surfing pose, he says:

“No that’s not it at all. Do less, try less”

After a few back and forths  “do less!” - Jason Segel’s character is so annoyed he just lays still on the board.

He does nothing.

And Paul Rudd’s character says “well, no you gotta do more than that - you’re just laying there…”

This funny scene hits on something more serious though.

We are all on our own journey of accepting our own realities. Resisting the urge to exert ourselves on the world as if we have control. Trying less. Being ourselves more.

And yet, if we do nothing, we’ll just be stuck laying there. We won’t learn or grow.

It’s yet another both / and lesson.  We have to accept and live inside of what is, while at the same time taking action and moving forward.

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Another hilarious line from Paul Rudd a few moments later: “When life gives you lemons just say f**k the lemons and bail”