# Chapter 345

Stop looking for easy. This is where we all tend to end up however and so you have to actively resist the slide to easy. Our whole culture is geared toward making everything easier, and I say that this is harming us most of the time. Its often marketed as “time saving devices” but the point is always easier. Unfortunately easier often translates into lazier and lazier often translates into larger waistlines and weaker muscles.

What if we aimed for stronger instead of easier? Stronger is way better in almost every category. Easier makes us soft and weak. Yes easier may save some time, but this is not the price you want to pay for those savings. Seriously I get saving time and I often double up on tasks so that I can get the maximum milage out of each hour of the day, but stronger is invariably better than easy. So I have a manual reel mower to cut the lawn, makes no noise, uses no gas or oil, gives me a great workout and takes no longer than a riding mower. I have rakes! We have four large leaf dropping trees on the property and raking is a great workout, instead of a blower. Quieter too. I have an old fashion edger, just a round blade and sturdy handle. Its a killer work out but it is slower and less precise than a gas powered edger. On the other hand it cost about 5% of what a gas edger costs. And it makes you stronger! All my mechanical old fashioned ways of taking care of the lawn are about not using fossil fuels and intentionally using my muscles - and keeping things quiet and peaceful in the neighborhood. Stop looking for easy.