For right now,
All you need to do is breathe in.
Exhale.
Breathe in.
Exhale.
Welcome to a hit of hope.
I was recently on a hike with someone,
Showing him my favorite woods.
The trail through the woods is a long one,
And for Minnesota,
It's rather hilly.
At the top of one of the big hills,
There was a bench.
My friend walked over to it and pointed,
Saying,
Hey Betsy,
This is what's called a bench.
Some people sit on them and rest.
Have you ever sat down on a bench?
I walked over,
Tapped my bum on the bench,
And popped back up again.
Why,
Yes,
Yes I have,
I said.
While I am sure there are other moments in my life that capture who I am as a person,
I'm hard-pressed to think of one that more perfectly sums me up.
Inhale.
Exhale.
When I teach about intercultural communication,
I explain that one of the differences in culture is where it falls on a scale between doing and being.
A doing culture is most concerned with action.
Who you are is tied to what you do,
Which is why one of the first questions we often ask is,
What do you do for a living?
A being culture is more concerned with the quality of life.
It's not what you do that is important,
But rather who you are as a person.
And it's more about being in the moment rather than rushing to get to the next.
Now,
This makes it sound as if doing is bad and being is good.
It's not that simple.
We have to do in order to survive.
We have to plant in order to harvest,
Harvest in order to cook,
Cook in order to eat.
And if we don't want to be the ones planting and harvesting or weaving and sewing,
We have to make money in order to buy the food and the clothing we need to survive.
And if we never do anything,
If we never get up and get out,
Why our lives can get pretty small.
Inhale,
Exhale.
And yet how many of us are absolutely exhausted and depleted because of all our doing?
Can you imagine being judged based on the quality of your character rather than the list of achievements on your resume?
What a relief that would be.
As with so many things,
It's about finding the right balance.
And to find the right balance requires creating the right mindset.
I know in my own life I do and I do,
But what I'm really working for is to be done.
What I mean by that is I tend not to appreciate the process because I'm so focused on the product.
It leads me to be caught up in the culture of next as compared to the culture of now.
And maybe you are like me and maybe you know at some level that the dark side of this is that what it means is the now is never enough.
The next,
The not yet,
Has all the power,
All the pull,
All the fear.
Who am I if I don't do?
Inhale,
Exhale.
At the heart of the being culture is this sense of being okay.
Being enough,
Being worthy just as you are without having to do a single thing.
And that is true.
No matter how much society or those voices in your head try and tell you differently.
Inhale and be.
Exhale still.
Inhale you are okay.
Exhale you are worthy without having to do a single thing.
Inhale exhale.
Give light.
