Do we know how to just be?
My contemplative book club just finished Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth and in the last chapter he talks about learning to just be.
He talks about how in old age in previous eras the elderly were respected because of their wisdom, but in our modern culture not so much. “Because in old age, the emphasis shifts from doing to Being, and our civilization, which is lost in doing, knows nothing of Being. It asks: Being? What do you do with it?”
My daddy knows how to just be. Yes, he’s always been a hard worker and has built and repaired more things than I can possibly imagine, but he also knows how to just sit and take in nature. You can find him sitting on his porch almost every day at some point marveling at the hundreds of hummingbirds that surround his feeders during the warmer months. We swear he puts a little extra sugar in the homemade nectar he fills his eight feeders up with every day. (Yes, they empty his feeders every day.)
Our world is so busy and noisy and moving at such a fast pace we have forgotten the wisdom of just being. We are rushing here and there and every where getting kids to their activities, pushing them to get their homework done, and on and on it goes. Why are we so busy? We’ve bought into the thought that if we aren’t doing something we aren’t successful. What are we sacrificing in order to be seen as successful?
Our spaces don’t encourage us to just be either. How many homes have front or even back porches these days? The farmhouse trend certainly is bringing the front porch back, but not near as many homes have front porches now. I am thankful my home has a back porch. I spend a lot of time on my back porch reading and just being.
I think learning to just be is a state of the heart just like I mentioned in my previous post about hurry. Our heart has to learn to just be. We have rebel against what culture and the world tells us to do. We have to stop striving and doing. Learn to be still. Learn to sit in silence. Learn to experience solitude. Practice Sabbath rest.
I’ve come to believe that it’s essential we take time to rest and slow down so we can hear God in our noisy and hectic world. When we learn to just be we will be more attentive and receptive to God. As we become more attune to just being we become more comfortable with the silence, and as St. John of the Cross once said, “Silence is the first language of God.”
What are some ways you can “Just Be?” What are some activities (like sitting and watching the sunset or others) that you do that bring stillness and being to your spirit?
Starting September 15th, I’ll be sharing a “Just Simply Be” challenge. I’ll be sharing 7 days of activities over on my social media that you can do to slow down and simply be. Subscribe to my email list and I’ll send you a list of even more activities to give you ideas of ways you can slow down and simply be. I’d love for you to join me as we discover ways we can slow down. You can follow Growth Essentials Coaching (@growthessentialsllc) on Instagram and Facebook.
Learning to “Just Be” is one of the things I help clients discover through Enneagram and life coaching. To see if Enneagram coaching is right for you, I offer a free consultation where we will discuss how you want to grow, what your next best steps could be, and if coaching is a good choice for you. Whether we work together or not you will have a better understanding of what you can do to move toward your highest potential with purpose and peace. Click here to schedule your free consultation.
