So many of us go through life caught up in what we are “doing”. In fact this is never more apparent then around the holidays.
There are people all around you right now in a state of extreme “doing,” and who knows – you may even be one of them.
I cannot tell you how many times I have heard in the past few days and weeks the following statements:
- “I have so much to do!”
- “There is so much to be done!”
- “We are so busy doing things!”
- “I am going to be doing this or that!”
- …etc.
During these busy times of “doing“, we forget more than ever about the “being.” “Being” is our natural state of living. As I first heard Neale Donald Walsch beautifully explain “We are human beings, not human doings.”
Let us thus reflect on this fact today and try to bring ourselves back to our most natural state as human beings, whether it is to make the most of the holiday season or life in general.
The “Doing Illusion”
How are you feeling as you read this? Am I describing what you have experienced and are experiencing in your life at this time. Are you laughing or crying about finding yourself in this state?
Some of us indeed will laugh it off, shrug it off and ground ourselves back to who we are and how we want to live.
Others of us unfortunately may not be so lucky. Some of us live in such a constant state of “doing” that we not only forgot how to “be” but do not even know that there IS a better way to live.
I often wonder how people get caught up so much – so much that they “forget” what life is really all about and how to go back to living in a state of “being”.
Why and how do any of us get to this point? For no other reason then due to the “doing illusion.”
I call it the “doing illusion” because it is a state we chose to put ourselves in, thinking that this is how it was, how it is and how it always has to be. This is nothing more than an illusion that our ego tries to present to us on a daily basis.
I know this starts right from when most of us are growing up, from watching and listening to our parents. That is usually the initial way many of us fall into this same pattern. The great news is, is that no one is doomed to this state, regardless of how you lived in the past or choose to live now. We can snap out of it at any time and many people do.
The “doing illusion” is practised widely in our society by the majority mainly because we have grown to be so disconnected from our inner beings, our spirits and our souls. We have simply “forgotten” who we are and why we are really here.
Yes, society keeps telling us to “do” – do a job, do your groceries, do your laundry, do your taxes, do, do, do… However, who is all this “doing” really serving? Society in general? Not for a second, so don’t kid yourself.
When we get into this pattern, we usually cannot imagine life being any other way. But not only is there another way, it is our birthright. We were meant to live exceptionally wonderful lives, not lives where all we have at the end is a list of tasks that we have completed.
Thus, so many of us get caught up in the “doing illusion” as we feel that that is what “is right”, that that is how we are “supposed to live” or that that is the “normal way.” Yet in reality, none of these are true.
By living in the “illusion of doing,” we are only doing what is right for our own personal and collective egos, as your spirit does not know any other way to live than in a state of “being.”
Take the holidays as an example. So many of us are so concerned about “doing” the decorating, “doing” the baking, “doing” the shopping and so on and so on, that many of us are completely missing the value of this holiday.
Our Natural State – the State of “Being”
The truth is that NOTHING needs to be done. You just need to “be” – be in a state that brings you the most joy, happiness, peace, love, etc. If per say baking does that for you then wonderful! I have experienced many people baking out of a state of “being” rather than “doing.” In fact you can even easily tell on yourself which state you are acting out of, depending on how you feel about a particular task or choice.
If you are singing merrily as you drive your car to the grocery store amidst the traffic, rather than huffing and puffing for all these people to get out of your way – then you are in a state of being.
If you are strolling the stores excitedly looking for unique gift ideas, rather than complaining how many gifts you still have to buy – then you are in a state of being.
If you are cooking new dishes with fun and flair, rather than worrying over the stove if they are going to turn out – then you are in a state of being.
If you are playing with your kids or enjoying time alone, rather than being stressed over how much more needs to be done – then you are in a state of being.
The examples are countless. The bottom line is that whatever you are doing whether during this holiday season or any other time of the year:
May it be coming from your heart and showering love on all that it touches!
May it be coming from your soul and bringing peace and tranquillity to all those who share in it!
And may it be coming from your most highest self and shining as the brightest light this holiday season, illuminating the magnificence of what it really means to be a “human being!”
About the author:Evita Ochel, B.Sc., B.Ed., CHN - is the founder and editor of EvolvingBeings.com – an online publication featuring various topics on spirituality and metaphysics. Evita teaches consciousness expansion and heart-centered living to help people attain deep meaning, peace and happiness in their life. She is also a nutritional science and holistic health expert for optimal health and longevity. Learn more about Evita Ochel or Follow her on Twitter.
19 Comments to “Human Doings versus Human Beings”
What an uplifting post! As people realize much of what frustrates them does not matter, life takes on a more positive slant.
Evita, this is just such a powerful message you’ve shared. Although I have many moments of “being”, I also am guilty of “doing” way too often. And this all has me thinking – what does this mean for me, today, and going forward. During the holiday season, and beyond. How can I get into that state of “being” more often? Evita, thank you! Thank you for making me evaluate my life, really, at a different level. One of true “being”. And I commit to doing exactly this – finding more moments in my life for “being” instead of “doing”.
You’ve ended this post so beautifully – the idea of our heart and soul shining through. You, Evita, are a wonderful gift to this world we live in! You are a wonderful gift to me – it’s like opening a new gift every time I visit here – and one that has great meaning in my life…
Thank you for the reminder, especially during the holiday season. I’m a doer, who tries to put a lot of being in my doing. Very often, I’m not too successful, but recently, I have been.
I think turning 50 caused an unconscious shift, but now my conscious mind is on to it………..:)
I hope you have a great holiday season full of being.
Hi
Yes, true
I am so aware of when I meet someone for the first time and they say:
“what do you do?”
As if that defines us?
Juliet
I should get started doing some of that “being” you are talking about… ;) Just joking. Great article really and it is true so many of us burn away life doing everything we can and often forget to stop and just be. Be joyful, be loving and be loved. That is what life is for, not for only doing all that other stuff!
Oh, Evita, what you describe in your last three paragraphs SO clearly defines it! You have described being in love—in love with life, with the life that flows through us!
If we stop to think about it, when we feel this way, as you describe, then none of the gunk of life fazes us. We simply don’t acknowledge it.
And, yes, many of us know what it means to “be” rather than “do,” and we all are being from time to time and in various circumstances… But to truly BE, all the time…! THAT is truly living! That, I think, actually, is heaven on earth.
Never have I seen it expressed so clearly and simply—and with such emotion. You just shine so brilliantly, Evita! I think I’ll print this and keep it in a very handy place for a quick reminder on exactly how to BE. ;)
I wish a blessed and beautiful holiday and vacation for you, Evita!
@LIARA – Thank you! You said it…once we realize that all these little details in our life do not make us or our lives, life is SO MUCH better :)
@LANCE – Lance first and foremost is to never feel bad about anything we have done or choose to do as those feelings and emotions have a bigger negative effect within us. What is done is done. Some people may think that we need to learn from past mistakes…but that is not exactly how. Every minute of every day we get to declare over and over who we are, how we want to live and what kind of a life we make for ourselves. Therefore I like your idea of contemplation in terms of what does this mean for my future moments.
What you will find is the more consciousness we bring into anything…the easier just “being” becomes and we no longer see life as a series of “tasks”.
And as always I am so glad that you enjoyed my words and thoughts here :)
@LISA – Hi and thank you for your genuine addition. All of us in some way are doers, until we become masters of ourselves, it just depends what percentage of our life is the “being” vs “doing” split. As long as there is more being and less doing, we are at least on the right path.
Thank you for the holiday wishes… and same to you :)
@JULIET – Well said Juliet…you bring up a very important point in our society. We do get so judged by our jobs as if that was what life is made of.
But I have no doubt that is all about to change as we proceed forth with this great age of awakening!
@MIKE – Great advice Mike – love, and joy…those are amazing states to be in and they really make life so beautiful and FUN to live!
@JULIE – Oh Julie your words always have such a special effect on me. Every single time your life enthusiasm just pours out, no matter the article, no matter the topic…every single time. Now how is that for “being”!
Thank you so much and again I am so appreciative of the opportunities that I continue to be blessed with where I can interact with such amazing people and even leave some positive mark on their life. That is perhaps the greatest gift that I will be reflecting on this holiday season!
Me again,
I can’t find a contact e-mail on your site. Just want to let you know I’ve tagged you. (You can see the post on my blog)
I’d love to see an “about you”…or am I missing it?
Cheers
Juliet
From The One then known as Da Free John:
The fundamental Principle of our existence is to persist as love, as Radiance prior to fear. Love is the fundamental Condition. Everything else is secondary to it, mere experience to be met either by fear or love, by contracting upon ourselves or radiating in all relations to Infinity. As long as we are not love, then every moment is a problem, a dilemma, in which we try to manipulate the circumstances of experience in order to console ourselves. But all our experience is distorted, all our relations are corrupted, everything fails to satisfy. Thus, we look for beliefs of all kinds, because we are afraid, unsatisfied, and unconsoled.
You cannot truly enter into spiritual life in order to be consoled, to be relieved of fear. But that is exactly why the usual man engages spiritual practice, in order to attain the goal of bliss, or release from fear, or immortality. The search for happiness is not the position from which to enter truly into spiritual life. You must approach God as a devotee, already blissful, already free of fear, already alive as love. Therefore, come to me when you are already happy.
This is the secret of spiritual life: Love is God Communion, or freedom from fear. The inherent disposition of Radiance is God-Communion, presently God-Communion, in this moment. No objective experience, no vision, no esoteric structure or condition of any kind is God-Realization, nor does any experience or condition add to this Communion. The path itself is to be love, to be unobstructed feeling attention, to persist in love under all conditions, and thereby to transform the conditions of existence from that point of view. If we abide in that Communion, then all the conditions and possibilities of existence are a great display of God that will always be benign. We need not be concerned, we need not acquire knowledge in order to be free of it all. In fact, we are not in a position to know what anything is. Our position is Ignorance, or God-Communion, love itself, to exist without obstruction in the continuous instant of Infinity that is in every moment.
I know lots of drivers who “do” driving, with the expectation of being quick and of reaching their destination in the shortest possible time. I wonder what they do with the minutes saved when they arrive home…do they have more time for ‘being’ or more time for ‘doing’ The duration of driving, between the embarkation and the destination can be a joy, but when I steady my speed to enjoy the process…lots of ‘doers’ honk their horns.
ok…20mph on a freeway is perhaps overdoing the ‘being’ part somewhat. :)
xhenry
Juts being is a kind of doing. It is simply immeasurable and impreceptible according to traditional human thinking. As you move beyond conditioning, you redefine normal and disregard traditional if this mindset no longer serves you.
I don’t know how I missed this post. WOW!! This is some serious good writing and profound insight. I really like this and it is something I am thinking a lot about lately. Taking back my life, no matter what I “think” needs doing. Remembering that this time is MY time, MY LIFE. That’s a powerfully freeing insight and feeling. And blessedly I am one of these people who is completely at ease NOT doing anything, but just sitting in nature or being with my sweetie, or plain and simple just being in this very moment right now. Gosh, you are a wise woman who instills so much life everywhere you go. I love you for that and more. Robin
[...] doing. Whatever it is, it should be something you want to do. Evita, in her article, Human Doings versus Human Beings, says it so well – about focusing on being instead of just [...]
this all seems very nice in theory, but if you want mankind to progress past bulging do-nothings your anthropocentric thinking must realize that the cosmocentric realm of reality is as far outward as it is inward. I’m afraid that humans were always DOING, or else they would have simply been devoured by the doing of another. I agree the knowing yourself is as important as knowing the world around you, but we should not get caught up in assuming everything around us is reflective of us; moreover that we are reflective of it. So we must DO in order to understand the world around us that has shaped our existence. I sense that your philosophy is a hinderence upon the evolution of man. Your ego has simply put greater emphasis of the self instead of the achievements of the self. knowing yourself is obvious if we are sincere and allow what is inside of us out by taking in what is around us as supplies for creation and growth. if we do not, we will be sucked into a black hole while simply being and then simply stop being. I do not believe in this defence mechanism you created for being lazy.
It is true that the doing thing is more in our life than the being. And it should be like that because we have been told that if we do not do much there is no way of survival.. So, to keep that we will be doing more than being beings. But as you have said, all these should balance “be doing and at the same time be a being”. I have enjoyed the article.
wow .. what a great post .. people are always in a rushed hurry state that we feel as if we need to do this or we need to do that … if we didnt do it – would we cease to exist ? of course not … its the feelings the we get after all the thought we put in to our daily chores or whatever it may be that results in anxiety and stress and other negative emotions… It isnt hard to find positive aspects of anything that one must do because well just being here on earth with free will should be more than enough ! We are here with the ability to move our hands and feet and with the ability to communicate for a reason … its about time that everyone stops getting stuck in the endless circle of something we call life and realize that it is just filled wth beauty and amazing things everywhere.. the thought of becoming bored with anything is an occurance that still boggles my mind … just because we are exposed to something over and over again .. we lose all interest and cease to see the beauty found inside ? why is it then that while meditating … the extreme example of a “human being” that we can get so much bliss out of doing absolutly nothing ?? it is our natural state .. one that everyone one has lost touchh ..
great post ..
@ MAJOBO – Hello and thank you for stopping by here!
Indeed our society has taught us from an early age that to get anywhere you need to “do”. And as we go through life like this, we lose our sense of “being”. We become almost robotic.
And so as you say it is about the balance – just like we came here to have a physical experience and there is an aspect of “doing”, we cannot forget that we are spirit at our essence and hence there is the aspect of “being” – and in balance we live out the highest state of life that we can.
Thank you for your input.
@ NICOLE – Hi Nicole and thank you so much for the feedback!
And you hit upon something so important right from the start, if we did not “do” something would we cease to exist? Would life end? Of course not.
We have just been so conditioned, so brainwashed to see life as a series of events to do, and that is it. Sit back and relax and many will not hesitate to call you “lazy”. But this is about so much more than that.
This is all about reconnecting with our souls – with our beingness. And that is where the greatest peace and happiness lies.
That’s exactly it. I am happy that I have found someone, who expresses the truth on earth of all of life. This is exactly as I have always felt, it’s rather more than the ‘being’ than the actual ‘doing’. As you know there is a definete difference between the two, in the fact that the being is just it, be, and the doing always strifes for more in action. It’s like the mind has to be doing something to distract what we are in nature. When we acknowledge this existence, we begin to realise what is happening, and a greater insight ignites into our existence – our core, our being.
Thank you for dropping by.
I am grateful for such encounter. :)
@ ANA – It is I too who is in awe at how some people can vibrate at such similar levels of being. Your presence is truly a gift in my life and I sincerely thank you for your amazing comments and contributions here.
Your light is felt and felt so brightly!
I know a lot of people still cannot fathom or wrap their heads around this idea of “being”. In fact I know it makes a lot of people very uncomfortable, but truly there is no other way to exist.
We have created all the rules, regulations and obligations that now tie us down to doing. But just as easily those can be removed. It all depends what we choose to perceive or open ourselves up to.