Being

If you've ever heard Zig Ziglar speak you've heard him say "you have to be before you can do and you have to do before you can have."

Be, Do, Have - sounds reasonable; for example you have to BE trained medically to DO the work of a doctor and HAVE the career/rewards/etc. of a doctor. But what about the less obvious applications?

Forget DO & HAVE for the moment, I can only handle one thing at a time; so let's start with BE. Did you know "be" has 31 entries in the dictionary (www.dictionary.com)? The first definition is to exist or live. Yesterday it was a fabulously beautiful May day here in the Southeastern United States. The sun was shining, a cool breeze danced across the blades of grass and since the humidity has not yet reached the customary 150% the temperature was lovely as well.

Throughout the morning I had been watering the lawn strategically.
This means I was moving the sprinkler from one dead patch of grass to another and Callie, my furry child, was supervising. After a few trips she had the routine figured out. She had about five minutes to enjoy the weather while I turned the water off, moved the sprinkler, turned the water back on, and repeated the process until I was satisfied that the next patch of dead grass would receive sufficient water fall.

As soon as I opened the door Callie would bolt to a yet unsprinkled patch of dead grass in the sun. She would stretch out, take a few rolls and collapse lying there enjoying the sun and being. It didn't matter that in a few moments I would finally get the sprinkler situated and she would be called back into the house; just being able to roll in the grass and enjoy the day for a few moments was enough.

The Hubs (short for my wonderful husband and the love of my life!) enjoys BEING when we are camping. You can see the cares just slip away as we settle into a camp site. Yesterday, I decided to do a little BEING and joined Callie on the grass. I sat cross-legged Indian style, closed my eyes and faced the sun allowing the breeze to blow my hair. Remember as a kid when you used to lie in the sun with your eyes closed and you could see colors of pinks, oranges, purples,etc. as the sun shined on your eyelids? I did that, just sat there. It was amazing!

After about ten minutes my neighbor came out of his house and walked through the yard (I think he was checking to see if I was okay - my side yard is visible from their kitchen window). For good measure I did it again two more times later in the day. Sometimes I get too busy DOING and too worried about HAVING that I go for long periods of time without actually just BEING.

When is the last time you took time to exist, live, BE? Try it even if it's just for a few moments each day; take it from me and Callie, it's amazing!