Why can’t we all ‘just be’?
One of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s most resonant remarks was that ‘man has no ears for that to which experience has given him no access.’
In other words, sometimes you just can’t process an idea, because you don’t have the mental tools or reference points to make sense of it.
Sometimes a whole ‘way of being’ passes you by, because you’re simply not aware that such a state is possible.
So remember that being anxious, stressed or feeling out of control during a worldwide global crisis is not a failure on your part.
I’ve really seen it all this week.
‘Perfect’ homeschooling, people bragging about working through having the corona virus, people berating other people for lounging around watching Netflix…
It seems no one is allowed to just ‘be’.
Some people just can’t ‘get on with it’ right now.
They are fearful, upset, scared.
They really don’t need berating for being shit at coping with something that has not happened to most of us before.
We have no terms of reference for this crisis.
I’ve actually had a very busy couple of weeks helping current clients and other people who contacted me and making sure they have a battle plan for the next few weeks/months for their business.
I’m glad I’ve been busy because it’s not given me time to feel inadequate about my lack of plans to read 100 books a week, drop two dress sizes, better myself and on and on and on.
If anything, I think a lot of us need to take a breath right now.
What if, instead of forcing ourselves to take more action, we actually need to take less?
What if, instead of overloading our brains even more, we stop.
We allow ourselves time to think.
To wonder.
To be creative.
To have space to grow.
What if our compulsive habit of striving so hard to make things better is actually part of the reason we are unimaginative, uncreative, feeling constantly stressed.
A lot of the time, I have clients who are so overwhelmed by their work and their lives, they have lost all sense of fun and creativity.
It doesn’t make for a successful entrepreneur.
Strategy and smarts need space and time to develop.
To be able to express your thoughts well, you need time to ponder and come up with ideas.
We’re so busy being busy, we have no time for any thoughts whatsoever.
Constantly grafting is not good for business.
I’m not saying you should not be working, building your business, selling.
But if that’s all you do, it actually makes you particularly dull.
And tetchy.
And uninspiring.
I’m not saying that we should all stop and do nothing, but instead we need to recognise how much more creative, considerate and measured our actions could be if they were centered in the daily experience of just being.
Back in the day, philosopher Blaise Pascal suggested that most of humanity’s problems stemmed from man’s inability to sit quietly alone in a room.
In our world of smartphones and social media, it’s super easy to forget how amazing it is that he wrote that line back in the 1600s.
We’ve now turned into people who are making coping in a global pandemic crisis some kind of competition.
I’m not signing up to this.
I’ll keep doing me.
I’ll be a ‘good enough’ mother to my three children
I’ll show up in my business.
I’ll serve my clients with passion and purpose.
I’ll enjoy all the moments of lockdown as much as I can.
I’ll look forward to appreciating all the simple joyful things I can when this is over.
And I’ll continue to ‘just be’.
How about you?
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