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We are usually so caught up in the flash and glamour of the external world that we are constantly doing something.
This is amplified by our mobile devices who are always readily at hand. The media and medium have merged.
As a result, we can feel like we are always busy, regardless of how meaningful or rather meaningless it is what we are doing.
But doing is all society teaches us; you should be doing this and you should be doing that. You shouldn’t do this, rather do the other thing.
When I first started to read self-improvement books I felt like I have to start doing all kinds of things as soon as possible and as fast as possible.
And whenever I felt bad about my current situation, I thought I had to do something to get out of there.
This led to so much stress, tension, and anxiety because all I cared for was the future achievement and success I wanted to reach right now.
And to add to this cycle, every time I felt bad, I thought it’s because I’m not productive enough or because I’m doing something wrong.
Doing and productivity became my measure of self-worth, which just made me miserable. Fortunately, when I was in a really low place, I discovered meditation, which then led to the study of spiritual teachings.
This is when it all dawned on me.
Because I was caught up in doing all the time, I completely neglected my being and with that the present moment.
My life fluctuated from past to future to past to future, never really taking time to ground myself in the present moment.
This is when I decided to stop doing so much and to start being a lot more.
With all this hustle and bustle of doing it’s easy to forget that we are be-ings, not do-ings.
You might be thinking: “I am already, so how can I not be?” Well, true but when do you intentionally take some time to just be? Not more not less.
The Trap of Actionism
Many of us are doing something all the time and still feel like it’s not enough and we are getting nothing done. This is a straight path to burnout.
Doing something all the time, yet feeling unaccomplished, can be called the trap of actionism. You want to compensate for the lack of fulfillment from your previous doings by doing more.
But the solution is not to do more. The solution is to slow down and simplify, to stop doing and start being.
Turn inside and listen to what’s going on with your inner being. With all this doing, when do you take a time out to reflect if you are doing the right things?
When you start to be, you’ll reconnect with your inner guidance, which will tell you when to act and what to do. Your actions will no longer have a random frantic character, but rather they will come from a place of meaning, precision, and clarity.
In contrast, many don’t know what to do with their life.
What a peculiar expression, “doing something with your life.” We even want to impose our neurotic drive for doing on life itself.
But here the solution is the same. If you don’t know what to do, start with being, then the doing will take care of itself.
Don’t Rush
There is much emphasis on taking action, but for many, this leads to pressure, stress, anxiety, and burnout.
How about not taking action once in a while?
Inside of you exists a vast cosmos that waits to be explored. And this cosmos holds all the answers to all your pressing questions, even those not asked yet.
And guess what? You don’t have to physically do anything to explore it.
By being, you will get clear on what it is you want to experience in life. But what keeps so many of us from being is a feeling of being rushed.
You see people around you doing and achieving things. As a result, you compare yourself to them and think you have to catch up quickly.
But hey! There is no need to rush. Where are we rushing to anyway?
Life is not in a hurry, so why are we?
A tulip doesn’t feel rushed to bloom faster only because the rose has already blossomed. A chicken doesn’t try to hatch faster than a swallow. And a snowflake doesn’t try to match the falling speed of a raindrop.
“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Take your time and relax. You’ll get there, wherever that is.
Trusting that you’ll reach your goals and live your desired life is a huge, yet underrated, factor for fulfilling your goals and desires. And you can foster trust by finding that deep inner trust inside your heart.
Take a chunk out of your day of doingness to sit and just be. Observe, feel, let go. See if you can rediscover that eternal ever-lasting part inside you that radiates with universal trust and faith.
When you reach that sweet spot, doubts will disappear and you’ll see that everything is already done, or as physicist David Bohm called it enfolded.
All you are doing is witnessing its unfolding.
When is it Time for Doing?
I know it sounds like I am bashing doing, but that’s not what I’m trying to do.
Quite the opposite.
Do as much as you like, so long as you do the things that are true to yourself.
And this doesn’t mean that you’ll never have to do anything again that’s not fun. There will be some moments where you know you have to do something, but you’ll feel like not doing it at that moment.
However, you’ll do it anyway because you see the greater meaning behind it. Your perspective will have changed and your doing will have a whole different character.
This is where I’m really getting at. By stop doing start being, I don’t mean to never do anything again. What I mean is that when you start being your doing will finally start to feel meaningful.
By becoming silent and being with yourself, you’ll get clarity on who you are, who you want to be, and what you want.
With all this in line, the things you ought to do will be self-evident.
And the moment doubts creep in and you feel a lot of resistance just sit with it.
When you experience doubt and resistance you are entangled in a web of negative emotions and limiting beliefs. The best way to detangle yourself is to be quiet and feel into this feeling.
The true essence of the statement stop doing start being is to be, then do, then be again, then do again.
And eventually your being and doing will merge so that your doing will be an expression of your being. This is when you are living in flow with life.
Being and Happiness
When you are stuck in constant doing, you believe that to be happy you have to first accomplish this thing and then this other thing.
And then, finally, you can be happy. But this is not how it works.
Instead, by starting to be you can discover that happiness arises from inside.
As a result, all your doing will come from a place of happiness and hence will be much more aligned with your true being.
As long as you are doing something in the hope of being happy it’s like throwing everything against a wall and seeing what sticks
Reconnecting with your being will reduce this everything to nothing and enable you to deliberately take one thing and intentionally put it on the wall.
Today is a perfect day to stop doing and start being. Will you be today?
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“The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
Luka
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Beautiful article.