Stop being what you do and start doing what you are

Some time ago, I listened to an interview on radio for Andrea Strozzi, author of the book “Vivere basso, pensare alto”, a book that I recommend to read to everyone. I don’t know if the English version exists, however, the title translation should be “low living, high thinking”.

I must say, I was really excited to hear his words: it is like listening to someone who knows exactly what he is saying and who through his experience has discovered an important awareness.

Listening to those words I elaborated the phrase that became the title of this article:

“Stop being what you do and start doing what you are”

Ok! But what does this mean?

If you think about it, there are very few individuals who sincerely acknowledge that they are fully satisfied with their working life.

I talk about working life because unfortunately, to date, the work takes up almost our entire day:

7/8 hours of sleep on average
3/4 hours between breakfast, lunch, dinner and shopping at the supermarket
1/2 hours on average to reach the workplace
6/8 (sometimes even 10) hours of work per day
7/2 (if you work for 10) hours left a day to do what you want

By double counting, adding the numbers before the slash / and those after the slash /, you get 24 hours per day.

AND IN OUR FREE TIME …?

What are the things you generally want to do? Let’s pull down a small, very generic list:

Stay with your partner?
Stay with your family? Together with your children?
Spend time on yourself, reading a book or watching a movie?
Take a walk through the park, through the city streets?
Shopping?
Devote yourself to some hobby, or parallel project of life, how to build an own home for your family or for your children?
Write articles on your blog?
Gardening? Painting? Dedicate to the Music? Or still in the kitchen?

And do you really think you can dedicate to these beautiful projects, or these pastimes, having those few hours that have remained available to you? And if your answer is YES, do you think you can do it in complete serenity?

Or is it more likely that you feel so tired for all the things you do during the day that, when you come home from work, you decide not to do anything and rest, maybe lying on the couch in front of the television?

SO YOU WILL FINISH TO GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS

Well it is well known that many people are so tired and stressed because of their work that they end up renouncing their dreams, their desires and their goals. A friend of mine, psychologist and personal coach, told me that many of the people he met believed they had wasted their lives by working too hard and dedicating little time to their loved ones or their desires.

Did you know that in 2013, the statistics said that 6 out of 100 people take medicine to lower levels of tension and anxiety? It seems that in recent years this statistic is still growing, reaching almost 1 in 10 people.

If you are among those people who believe that “in the end this is life”, or that it is right that that is the way it works or that whatever you do will never change the situation … then I’ll tell you immediately this article is not for you!

You can stop reading now and continue living the life you have always lived to this day. Otherwise, if you believe what I’m saying is true … how much do you think all this is right? Do not you think it’s time to rethink and I would also say to change something in your life?

“Stop being what you do …”

it really means this!

Stop being an automaton, stop behaving as if your work had now entered your DNA and had shaped you in its image and likeness, stop being carried away by common opinions and start to think with your head, listening to your heart. And if the word “heart” makes you think this is too childish, then change it with inner awareness.

YOU ARE SPECIAL, KNOW IT!

You, my dear reader, are an extraordinary living being, endowed with infinite emotions and capacities. Thinking yourself like everyone else, defining and labeling yourself with a name given to you by society is pure madness. You are, whether you want to or not, a special being, whose ultimate goal is to simply become yourself. Where “simply yourself” means to find the meaning of your life, fully understand why you were born and make sure that the exceptional being that you are is manifested to the world in its fullness … that can flourish, bloom and radiate its light around himself, illuminating all those who need to see your light in order to find theirs.

“… start doing what you are” it means therefore, listen to yourself. Follow your inner guide, listen to the music inside you and follow the steps that indicates you, even if these should prove to be complicated, against the thought of the mass. But be careful that this way of being does not imply the suffering of others.

To rediscover oneself and to follow one’s own way must always take into account respect for all others (men, women, children, the elderly, animals and living beings of any kind). In other words, do not harm others, rather give them love and kindness, be friendly and learn not to react when your impulse is driven by anger. Wait and listen to your breath, when you calm down and find your peace (which depends only on yourself) then answer.

A hygienist vegan lifestyle involves just that. Let others be what they want to be and you be what you were born to be … and in doing so, recognize happiness, well-being, peace in the soul and calm in your spirit …

You are like a flower … so find the strength and the courage to bloom!