I met Mike recently. He’s connected with one of the leisure activities I enjoy. On first meeting Mike informed me that he had just been on a course. The course was for six days and consisted of 15 hour days. Mike scoffed at how some of the other participants on the course had taken power-naps. He bragged how he hadn’t needed one himself.
The second time I met Mike he told me how he had been for a long walk at 5.30am that morning, then for a spa and swim (all before breakfast). Mike teaches 6 days and 5 evenings a week. Relaxation and rest are for light-weights in his mind. Mike is a human-doing. He finds it impossible to just ‘be’. When I look into his eyes I see a man who wouldn’t know how to evan spell ‘inner peace.’ He is 180 degrees away from his true self. The only way that he can obtain any kind of self-esteem is by his ‘doing’. Without that he would feel worthless.
So when did I become such a specialist on people like Mike? Well if you can spot it you’ve got it. Or in this case if you can spot it you’ve had it and are recovering.
I used to be that human-doing too. Always pushing myself. No relaxation. Rest was a four lettered word. No self-care. I ran my life in fourth gear and then God stepped in. I was handed a tsunami in the form of a chronic illnesses and made to rest. I was made to re-evaluate my life and ordered to learn how to just ‘be’. I am now a human-being and no longer a human-doing. I turned 180 degrees and came back to who I was meant to be. It’s a long journey home. A tough journey back. But it’s great to be here. I no longer need to be ‘there’. I’m no longer beating myself up, giving myself a hard time. I live in being-kind-to-myself time now. Life isn’t always easy and still has it’s challenges but I’m kind to myself now and have learned to treat myself with respect; the way I treated others.
A human-doing has got it so wrong. There is a healthy way of living. It’s called balance. When we find it we become a human-being. I hope Mike gets it. I hope he finds peace.
