April 30, 2001
Sometimes I get so caught up in
doing things that I forget to “be”. This past week I have been focused on a merger of three
companies and all the technical challenges that are inherent to this type of
transaction. I found myself dealing
with the details and divorcing my “being” in favor of “doing”.
I have been there before and this is not where I want to go again.
So the question becomes, is there a way to “be” while “doing”?
Being is a state of awareness that spiritual seekers find
in prayer or meditation when they are at peace. It is the acceptance of oneself without judgment and found in
the current moment, not the past nor the future.
Doing, on the other hand, is the action of life: our job, school,
parenting, etc.
One of my favorite books happens
to be Joan Borysenko’s book, A Woman’s Journey to God: Finding the
Feminine Path. Although it is
written primarily for a female audience, I have found many insights into my soul
through this beautiful book. On the
topic of the synergy of doing and being she writes:
“…we can enter the
state of being consciously … even while doing.
This results in a flow state, when ideas and insights seem to come from a
clear space, beyond our ordinary knowledge and perceptions. Touching genius, the synergy between being and doing is
spirituality in action. It is a
state of grace that erases the boundaries that separate us and restore us to
wholeness, to holiness. Being feels
like a homecoming, a sense of everything being right with the world.
A natural high, this state is a connection with our own true nature, the
Inner Light or spiritual Self.”
On a practical level, I can typically sense when I am out of sync with others or my work. Just as I periodically use synchronizing software to “sync” data on my desktop computer to my handheld, I have to sync my doing with my being. I remember from the past that it might take the form of a walk, a brief meditation, listening to a little music, or reading a familiar poem or verse. When I feel in sync, I have experienced the “flow state when ideas and insights seem to come from a clear space”. As I have written before, it just takes a little discipline to accomplish.
Whatever
you have done in the past to just “be”, remember you can enter
that state while dealing with the things you must “do” in
life. I used to carry a small piece
of paper in my wallet and had copies in a few strategic places.
On that piece of paper were several affirmations that reminded me of what
my core beliefs and dreams are. I
think it’s time for me to use these affirmations again when I need to be in
all that I do. After all, it is
this union that drives me to discover ways to find spirituality in my everyday
life.
With respect, acceptance, and
love,
Excerpt from A
Woman’s Journey to God: Finding the Feminine Path, by Joan Borysenko,
copyright 1999, Riverhead Books, a member of Penguin Putnam Inc.