Can We Be Without Do?

You must have heard people saying “be yourself”. Some people say we are human “beings”, not human “doings”, suggesting that the goal is to “be” rather than “do”. However, we cannot “be” anything without doing it. This may sound like going against mainstream thought but this is true when we analyze this logically. For example, we cannot be healthy, without doing healthy things. We cannot be wise without doing wise things. We cannot be athletic without doing athletic things. We cannot be clean without doing clean things and so on and so forth.

All being is doing.

In essence, all being is doing. Otherwise, we have to go into the state of unmanifest which is the source of being state. But since we find ourselves in the being state, doing is inevitable and essential.

The truth is that in order to be our authentic selves, we need to do authentic things. Without doing authentic things - things that speak to our heart and that we truly desire and want to do - we cannot be our authentic selves. If we want to do A in life, but doing B for whatever reason, we cannot be our authentic selves. An artist doing an accounting job cannot be their authentic self unless he starts painting. A magician doing bar-tending cannot be their authentic self unless they start performing magic. A singer doing admin work for a non-profit cannot be their authentic self unless they start singing.

If we really want to be our authentic selves, we must start doing authentic things.

So the degree to which we do something we become that thing. There is no other way to be. If we really want to be our authentic selves, we must start doing authentic things. Calculate how much time you currently spend during a day or a week doing authentic vs non-authentic things. That will give you a clear picture of how authentic you are being. To grow into being your authentic self simply increase the time doing authentic things.