Being and Doing
There is a lot of rhetoric in the world, specifically the spiritual world, about the difference between being and doing. Often a teacher will remind us that we are human beings and not human doings. Sometimes this conversation is supported with some arrogance and judgment, which I find can be divisive.
What if we could let go of the either/or and move to both/and? What if we could acknowledge that our beingness is how we should up AS our doingness? Here is my logic to support this idea. If your being is one of someone who prioritizes love and being loving as a value and a priority, does that not demonstrate in what you are doing? If love is a value, then it is likely that you are a forgiving and accepting being also and this will reflect in your relationships.
If you value money and prestige, then your beingness as one who likes to be successful will make different decisions in how you cultivate your relationships and make your business decisions. We cannot separate our beingness and our doingness because they are simply different aspects of our wholeness.
If you are following this logic, then we can say that if there is something to pay attention to here it would be our values. Our values govern our beingness and as we have established, our beingness demonstrates in our doingness.
I have a few values that I can recite easily, the others would take a bit of thinking. My most celebrated values are love, honesty, transparency, authenticity, and loving acceptance. With these as my values, my beingness and decision making will govern my doingness. If integrity, transparency, and honesty are high on my list, you can imagine what behaviors do not complement these values. If I value honesty and act from a commitment to honesty, being a conniver will never work. I would be tossed into an emotional upheaval.
As always what I encourage is this:
Get to know yourself. Practice deep self-inquiry so you know who you are, what your priorities are, and with a deep commitment, then commit to doing according to your being, which compliments your values. This will move you along toward wholeness.
