We can become so fixated on the ‘whats‘ of life, that we forget that what REALLY matters, what is REALLY important, is not the ‘what‘, but ‘the way‘.
It isn’t so much WHAT you do, WHAT you are doing, but THE WAY IN WHICH YOU DO WHAT YOU DO. We’ve all heard these words before – or near enough these words anyway (“it ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it“) – but can you pause a moment in this now, and really hear these words.
:: Each of us has walked away from a conversation at some point, with a feeling of emptiness. A feeling that the other being wasn’t really present, wasn’t really bringing their full listening attention to the words we were sharing . . . . . And, each of us has walked away from the same conversation in terms of words, with a sense of being heard, of being seen. A sense of the warm presence of another as they witness you, fully.
:: Each of us has walked away from a conversation at some point, with a feeling of blank busyness. With no recollection of the words exchanged, our experience one of being ‘elsewhere’, hooked in a dialogue all of our own as we jumped around in thought, with no space to pay attention, with no space for we were too busy waiting for our own chance to speak . . . . . And, each of us has walked away from a conversation with the very same ‘other’, feeling the love of connection that comes through being truly present. The deep sense of Oneness that comes from really hearing, from really seeing, and from really bearing witness to another.
:: Each of us has walked away from a conversation at some point with a sense of being assaulted by the words thrown at us, one after the other. Words that seemed to be spat out from a space of urgent word vomiting, an unconscious space with almost no thought for whether or not there was another being present at all . . . . . And, each of us has walked away from a conversation feeling as though we have been blessed by the very way in which the words were given, shared, and lovingly spoken to our ears.
And just one more.
:: Each of us has walked away from a conversation at some point, feeling as though we have just dumped on to the shoulders of another. With no thought of the space from which the words were uttering forth, we found ourselves talking at another, with no awareness of their own experience . . . . . And, each of us has walked away from a conversation feeling as though we have really allowed ourselves to be seen, really allowed ourselves to be fully present to meeting another through shared words. With conscious attention, speaking from the honesty of our hearts, there was a clear meeting of another in the space of kind loving words.
This isn’t really about conversations………… This is ALL about the way in which you do what you do.
The difference in each of these four is simple. It is never really about the words that are shared, or not shared … not really … It is always about the way in which the words are shared, the way in which the words are received. It is all about the PRESENCE YOU BRING, to EVERYTHING. The way you do your thing.
The way you interact with another,
the way you talk to an audience.
The way you plant a seed in a field,
the way you listen to a child speaking.
The way you see your lover,
the way you look in to the mirror at your Self.
The way you pick up the telephone,
the way you write an email note.
The way you move with your body,
the way you stand still in a crowd waiting to board a train.
The way you wash your hands,
the way you eat your eggs.
The way you kiss,
the way you sip water from a glass.
It’s all the same.
Whatever it is that you find yourself doing, PAUSE, and pay attention to the way in which you do what you do……. For ‘the way’, is EVERYTHING. And as you begin to pay more attention to the way you do ‘your thing’, ‘the thing’ that you do will begin (without hesitation) to change……… for you will find yourself BEING from a different space, BEING from a space of awareness, BEING from a space of truth.
Over and over … Really, really, really … It’s not about what you do, but it is everything about the way in which you do what you do. It’s not about what you do, it is everything about the way in which you BE.
You can worry yourself silly about the ‘whats‘ (the house, the job, the this, the that), OR, you can bring your full presence to the way in which you choose to do your thing … Your choice!