How often do we give ourselves permission to “be”—
to walk past the “to do” list,
to ignore the insistent demands of technology,
to take the time to be fully with others, or ourselves or God,
to be okay,
to simply be?

One day, when I had no scheduled client appointments, I chose to let the day come to me.
I didn’t run through it,
or sleep through it,
or micro-manage through it ,
or push through it.
I allowed the day to unfold.

That morning, I listened to the birds herald the start of a new day. I paid attention to the hollow, and beautiful, sound of the bamboo wind chimes. I really looked at my home, and the property around it. I smelled the scent of my orange—something I typically take for granted. I wrote in my journal slowly, without the hurriedness of moving on to the next thing.

Later, I made a salad for lunch, then ate it slowly, actually being aware of the gift of the food that nourished me. I made tea, twice, and remembered how Mom always “put the teapot on” when we sat down to talk.

I didn’t judge myself for that one day,
I chose to stop thinking so much, for just that one day.
And, I said, “thank you God”, a lot.

These lyrics ran through my mind:
let it be, let it be
ah let it be, yeah let it be
whisper words of wisdom, let it be
Paul McCartney

Being, as opposed to doing, is rarely valued in our culture. Many of us are told from the time we’re very young that there’s so much to do, so much to accomplish, so much to be. Our schedules are full from the time we wake up to the time we close our eyes again at night—if we even allow that.

But, then what? What happens when you’ve crossed all “the things I have to do and be” off the list?
What happens when the children you’ve spent your life raising, being the best parent you could, move out, or on, or away?
What happens when the career you strove to excel at ends, and your entire identity is wrapped up in it?
What happens when the relationship you invested all of yourself in falls apart?
What happens when all that you’ve been doing leaves you with no idea of what “being” feels like?

We’re often like automatons—living out boring, pre-scripted, less-than fulfilling, non-thinking routines. Then, one day, we wake up—literally and figuratively—and finally decide to simply be. But how?
We’ve gone and lived out a life controlled by the “should haves” of our culture or upbringing.
We’re faced with knowing that we missed the opportunity for so many “could haves”.
We mourn the experiences we wish we “would have” had.

What could you alter so that you could slow down to enjoy the time you have?
How could you make your life more meaningful?
How could you change your thinking from “this is what I want” to “wow, look at what I have”?
What could you change that would impact your world—our world?
How could you look at every human and see the divine?
How could you leave a peace-full footprint behind?

So, the question is, “what are you doing with this next week?”

I am much better at “doing” than “being”, but I’m working at it.

What is important?
How do we spend the time we have?
What do we leave behind?
And so…the conversation continues.
Kay

©2017 peace full home™/intentional living