Are your day’s filled to the brim with activities?  Do you find yourself at 8 or 9 pm finally sitting down, breathing a sigh of relief and saying, “Oh my goodness, I haven’t stopped all day, and I still have more to do?”   Is this because you are living life as a “human doing” vs. a “human being?”  Do you even have time to consider the difference?

A “human doing” is the person who accomplishes things on their “to do” list, marks them off, goes from one activity to another, rarely takes a breather until they lay down in bed at night. “Doing” is defined as “executing,” “in action,” “the act of performing.”   It’s an exhausting way to live, but they know no other way as it “feels” as if they are accomplishing so many things.  Yippeee!  But that is not always what’s really happening.

And then what happens? They end up sick, unfulfilled and not knowing “where the time went” because they never enjoyed one second without an activity.  They are the type of person if you asked them, “what’s your favorite color, restaurant, or holiday?”  They may not even know the answer as they didn’t stop long enough to discover which of these things felt better than the other. It can be an unfulfilling existence!

A “human being” on the other hand, stops at least once a day, turns off all electronics, and spends quiet time without conversing, without activity and just sits.  “Being” in the dictionary says, “conscious” and “existence.” Are you conscious and existing?  Sound boring? Well, in fact “being” isn’t boring because it allows the mind, body and spirit to relax and figure out “what is!”  What a novel idea, right? By pausing like this, it’s easy to feel, smell, taste, and take some deep breaths. You can enjoy the quiet in the room, the freedom of not thinking, and see how just 5 to 10 minutes of this can refresh and recharge the mind so you can accomplish those “doings” in a relaxed way.

As I’m writing this, I just paused for 5 minutes, watched the ocean waves crashing on the shore, the palms trees blowing fiercely in the wind and a few sea shore birds flying and diving for fish.  I didn’t have to think about anything, but rested my mind just enough to be able to put together some more thoughts and talk with you again.  Have you ever heard these phrases, “be in the moment,”  “savor this feeling,” relax and know that I am God?”  In Timothy Ferriss’ book The 4 – Hour Workweek, there is a poem that talks about watching the rain, watching kids on a merry go round, listening to a song ’til the end, slow dancing, experiencing a slower life, take time to say “hi” to people and mean it, and just “lying” in bed!”  These are more in line with ‘human beings” rather than “human doing” activities.

Are you ready to try “just being” instead of “doing” constantly?  Give it a try today, and enjoy “being!”