We Are "Beings", Not "Doings"
What if we can achieve more by doing less?
As originally published in Change Your Mind Change Your Life on Medium.com.
Image: francescoch on iStock
Everyone faces daily pressure to “do” stuff. Whether it’s society, family, work or self-inflicted, it’s hard for most people to just “be”.
Somehow complaining about having too much to do is far more appealing than sitting quietly in our own company.
Ironically, sitting quietly in our own company may just be the answer to achieving far more.
Why Do We Fight Silence and Solitude?Why does simply “being” make so many uncomfortable?
Because there’s no external validation of any kind. And that’s what most are addicted to, whether consciously or not.
We “do” in the hopes of gaining recognition and reward in some form — be that money, love, attention, affection, safety, security, etc.
Our co-dependence drives our beliefs and behaviours because it’s all we’ve ever known.
I believe one of humanity’s greatest struggles is to face off with our deep-seated fears — the fear of abandonment, fear of rejection, and fear of being alone. These are at their root primal survival fears, usually from an early age.
And these fears are the primary drivers of codependency, one of the hardest victim mentality patterns to handle and the best one to overcome to come home to our sovereignty.
We all want change of some sort, but how many of us are ready to sit in silence and solitude to face these fears?
The Potential in “Being”Everything is energy. But we often forget this living in our 3-dimensional reality because we perceive this reality through our senses — sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch.
But everything, including us, is made up of atoms. Atoms are 99.99% information and nothing that we can perceive with our senses. So this means that our “reality” is less than 0.1% of what actually exists.
So what would it mean if we could tap into more of what is?
Like most things, being takes practice. I believe it’s a habit that can become a way of life.
Last year I stressed a lot — about everything. This year I’ve focused more on being, less on doing.
Have all my dreams come true? Has my life drastically changed? No.
But I have changed. And as a result, this year has been much more peaceful than last. I’ve experienced more joy and felt more grateful.
And so even if none of my external circumstances change, feelings of peace, joy and gratitude trump feelings of stress and lack every day of the week.
“Being” Does Not Mean “Doing” NothingA quick interpretation of “being” is to do nothing. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
It’s the difference between taking “action” and “inspired action”.
Action means doing out of routine or because we feel we should be doing something. In many cases, we also feel we need to do something because the stillness and silence make us so uncomfortable.
But action for the sake of action often leads to frustration, burnout, bitterness or regret, and accomplishes little as a result.
Inspired action, on the other hand, is exactly what it sounds like. When we are inspired to create and excited about the process, the doing becomes easy.
When I’m inspired to write, the words just flow out of me and onto the screen. It feels effortless and an article is done in no time at all.
On down days, I can stare at the screen for hours and accomplish near to nothing.
So then on the down days, is our time not better spent “being”?
Yesterday was one of those days for me. So instead of staring at my screen, I went to the park with my dog. We played. I read. We went to bed early that night. This morning I meditated.
And then I knew exactly how to write this article.
Inspired action. More joy. Way more efficient.
Dare To Slow DownIn a world that is more fast-paced than ever before, life will always provide us with easy excuses as to why we can’t just “be”.
So it must be a choice. Choices. Chances. Changes.
We must make the choice, to take a chance, if we want our life to change.
Wherever you are on your healing journey, always remember that YOU ARE ENOUGH.
