I once heard a spiritual teacher say that for every pleasure we experience in life it comes with a tax of pain. I contemplated this deeply. What I noticed from my own experience was that it was true.
Then I contemplated some more.
Is it possible to avoid this tax? What I came to was that every pleasure in life would indeed cost something. That is unavoidable. But I recognized that one could pay the cost upfront.
Instead of a tax one can pay a toll.
When we pay a toll we voluntarily go through the pain now so that we can experience the pleasure later untaxed.
For example we go through the pain of pushing our body in exercise so we can experience the pleasure of health and ease in the body. Or we pay the toll of letting go of addictions and bad habits in order to have the pleasure of being free of them.
In motherhood I’ve found myself navigating the tolls and taxes of taking care of a tiny human and myself regularly.
When I’m spending wisely I pay the toll of investing in my physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well being so that I can be filled up enough to show up in presence for my son. If I’m dipping into unconscious territory with my spending I end up paying the tax of being physically exhausted, mentally depleted, emotionally drained, and spiritually disconnected.
In truth life has always been this way. It’s just much easier for me to see it now because motherhood is the land of instant Karma. It is a moving train that continuously barrels onward so there’s not much leeway for letting the taxes pile up.