Difficulty: A Hard Thing to Do

In the absence of effort
There is no rest.
To feel rested
One must first make effort

And to feel like one is applying effort
One must rest,
Otherwise how could one
Distinguish between the one and the other?

Likewise, in the absence of clinging
There is no relief.
When clinging ends
Relief ends;

As long as relief repeats
There is clinging,
And with clinging
There is greed, hatred and delusion.

The easiest thing to do
Is the hardest
When the clingings take hold,
One after the other;

They dance before
The mind’s eye
And have to be recognized
And defeated one at a time;

As soon as one is identified
Another pops up
In a seemingly endless sequence
That soon grows tiresome

And then fatigue and irritability sets in
And I get caught in the itchy agitation
Forgetting my resolve,
Falling into mindless frustration.