To Be... Not To Do

Somewhere along the line, we put our "being" on the back burner. We look at fulfillment and success by what we do.


Part of our nature is the belief that we always need to be doing something constructive. We work at our 40 hour a week jobs and race home to do more. We race home to mow the lawn, paint the house, or maybe even water the garden. For some reason we base our identity on what we can do and how well we do it.

In 2008, July 4th landed on a Friday. Which for me meant a long weekend. Thursday night was the first night of the Diller Picnic and since we had our grand-daughter, Jaycie, we spent the night at the carnival.

It was so relaxing just enjoying the moment and watching the innocence of child living for the moment. By the time we headed home we had a pretty worn out 5 year old, but still awake enough to enjoy the firework display just a block away from our house.

Friday morning came and I was still in bed at 10 o'clock. A true rarity for me. That day I did a whole lot of nothing. I laid around, watched some TV and even took a nap. I probably should have been outside weeding the garden, but instead I was enjoying the moment. I had successfully shut off my mind and found some peace.

I should say that a lot of this peace was because Jaycie spent the day with our daughter in another town enjoying their Fourth of July activities.

Saturday arrived, the final day of the Diller Picnic, and Jaycie spent the day waiting for the night to come. Me? I slept in again and took another afternoon nap. By the time we were ready to head down town, I was feeling relaxed and Jaycie was ready to go.

We started the night by going to the parade and than hit the carnival one more time. We all had a good time. Jaycie was pretty much "rode-out" and I got our yearly fill of funnel cake.

Sunday came and so far this weekend I had accomplished nothing that could be considered constructive. And up to this point I was OK with what I had done - nothing. The garden still needed weeding, the lawn needed mowed, and our living room still needs to be painted. But for today, I was going to do nothing.

I went to work Monday morning and heard from different people everything they got accomplished over the weekend. And I gratefully said, "I did nothing." I say - gratefully - because in the past I would feel guilty about doing nothing, but I now understand the importance of just being.

Why do we always need to be doing something? John Bradshaw once said, "We are human beings, not human doings!" It's OK to just be. Enjoy the moment. As an alcoholic, I spent most of my life running, drinking or doing something. For me, it was extremely difficult just to relax and "be."

By being, we can become one with our surroundings and the universe. We can see things we never saw before and hear things we never heard before. By getting into the silence we become one with our Higher Power. Just by being.