Human being versus Human doing!

I’ve had a great day doing all kinds of stuff. A normal day, well recovering from ME a normal day is probably not like most people’s so here goes.
This morning it was yoga and pilates, at home just to wake me up and get those muscles moving.
Then a good book – Angel Falls by Nora Roberts , with its dramatic descriptions and a good murder investigation along the way it was a good read. Though not the rest I was supposed to be having as the concentration was hard. It’s only black and white text but for me it’s hard to cope with and the books great and I didn’t want to put it down.
A call from my boss, so more concentrating.
Wow, those carpets need a hoover so a bit of housework had to be done.
Some shopping as my ill cat keeps on eating me out of house and home.

Then suddenly I was wondering why my energy was hitting the low levels. I’d eaten, I’d taken my tablets and yet I knew I was doing something wrong. So with dinner cooking in the oven I had time for a walk.

As I walk I normally chant and my favourite is
Om gam ganapataye namaha!
A very loose translation might be:
Om = Salutations! Everyone wake up!
Gam = The secret power sound of Ganesh. It is his “seed syllable” or bija mantra.
Ganapataye = Another name of Ganesh, the breaker of obstacles.
Namaha = Yo! Ganesh! You da God!

Starting out on my walk with the wind against me and I started my chant and realised what I was doing wrong for me today. I’d been a human ‘doing’ all day. I needed time to be a human ‘being’. Just enjoying the moment, the scenery and what was going on around me.
At this moment in time I had no ‘problems’ I just needed to be!

The walk took me along the sea wall and as I was battling the wind a beautiful white seagull was along side me too. I watched the span of his wings, the freedom of flight as he soared by my side. He caught the right moment and dropped to the sea, his eye on a tasty morsel for his tea. It may just have been a piece of bread floating by but the dive was majestic and he caught my eye.

The wind was strong and gusted all around me, it swirled and tempted the wind surfers out to test their skills. The speed as they overtook me, meant a bad fall if they judged it wrong and one did. The sea was grey and troubled as it battered the sea wall. The windsurfers sail was a flash of orange and bright green, the sail dipped. The surfer fell and a plume of white water threw into the air and engulfed him, He was OK, back on the board and into the wind.  His way of removing his stress but still a human doing.

The cliff edges are covered in grass as they fall to the sea defence boulders. Both the land and the sea aiming to stand their ground. The cliffs wanting to stay there, the sea wanting to clean away the land and be the champion. A constant battle going on with no real winner. The winner is the beauty in the moment as I look at them and see the battle that goes on every day as we do, instead of allowing our bodies to relax and ‘be’.

Walking back and the wind is still whistling. How can it be so circular today? In the distance on the horizon is an island, speckled with little houses, It looks grey and foreboding against the heavily clouded sky, the clouds rushing by. The houses aren’t lived in, just visited. A sanctuary away from the mainland for both the human beings and the birds whose sanctuary it really is. When the weather is better I plan to walk to it and just sit and listen to the sea lions on the distant sand bank and just be – for a while.

A beautiful and colourful scarf has been tied to the railings. Fluttering angrily at its loss in the heavy wind. A moment of kindness from a stranger, hoping its owner will come and retrieve it. In reality it could have blown here from miles away. I’m touched by the kindness and thoughtfulness of that stranger.

I enjoyed my walk and added many beautiful images  into my mind so that next time I want to be, I can come back to them.
My challenge to you is to ask yourself ‘do I have a problem now?’, if not then take time to live in the now…..
You may see the rain drops in a puddle under a street light, an act of kindness or a scene of beauty that you see every day but have failed to notice.

 A moment like this calms your nervous system, allows you to relax and be ready for a great sleep. So go for it – go for the now!

Thanks to The Power of Now – Eckhart Tolle

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