The Art of Being

To master life is to find the balance between being and doing. And when I say ‘doing’ that includes thinking as thinking is another form of doing (at least, when it happens unconsciously).

I spent the first 28 years of my life in an almost continuous state of ‘doing’ totally at the mercy of the endless stream of thoughts that flowed into my mind.

And just like the majority of people living on the planet right now, I believed that I was those thoughts - deriving my sense of self from them and reacting to each and every one.

It seems that as a society we have become ‘dominated by the mind’ and hence, know very little about being. This is because the mind doesn’t know what to do with being. It says ‘BEING what do you DO with that?!’

But instead of stopping all doing and retiring to a monastery... what if there was a way to maintain that sense of being WHILST doing by maintaining a sense of alert awareness of your thoughts and emotions during your everyday activities? So that you can be still internally whilst action is being performed externally and, hence, create no more stress for yourself and others.

It’s that state of consciousness which will create harmony in your life, regardless of what you ‘do’. Because ultimately, being is primary and doing is secondary - even thinking for that matter.

So next time you have to perform a task that you normally find stressful, driving your car in traffic or a task at work, give that act your fullest attention without worrying about what might happen if you’re late or what the result of the task will be. And as you do, see if you can become aware of your thoughts and emotions as you do it and bring yourself back to that state of alert presence each time your mind drifts off - knowing that this moment, right here is always the most important one. You might just find that not only the quality of your doing improves but how you feel about doing it eases too.