Living More Intentionally Rather Than Simply Doing

I just read a new book, The Art of Stopping, by David Kundtz. There are many valuable ideas and practices discussed. I hope to follow through on them.

The author discusses how most of us lead our lives today, that we are always “doing” to keep up with all the demands on our time and attention. However, as he notes, “We are human beings, not human doers”.

Rarely do we make the time to just “be” and to discern our values and our priorities, who we are and who we want to be.

We can be busy every day, as most of us are, but busy does not equal success.

Are we living our life as we really should, doing what is truly most important or are we simply doing what keeps coming at us?

Kundtz believes in the great value of meditation, and that when he does make the time to meditate, he surely benefits. Yet he admits that with his counseling practice, authoring books, being with family and friends, and his full life, days often end without meditation.

That said, Kundtz points out that we all can intentionally pause between actions at work and in our personal lives, be these pauses just of a minute or two – or five or ten minutes – to discern who we are and how we are leading our life – our thinking, what we are saying, our relationships, how we are treating others, how we are helping others, and helping to make the world a better place.

Let’s not just be “doing” to keep up, rather be intentional about being the person God wants us to be and to live as we know in our heart we could be.

Could we do intentional pauses throughout our days, e.g., maybe ten or fifteen times, perhaps when we brush our teeth, at a traffic light, putting on our shoes in the morning, drinking our coffee, while walking, between calls and meetings? Sure, we can – and we’ll be better off for it.

Of course, there is actual stopping, rather than pauses, which might be scheduling a morning, an afternoon, or an evening to just “be”, to be alone and do nothing – simply reflect, think deeply, about our self and our life.

And the ultimate stopping is a week in nature, or a silent retreat, some way to stop and “be” and then perhaps adjust our life to be the person we truly wish to be.

Stopping is a tall order, but the intentional pauses are not, and they will help us be mindful about what we are thinking, saying and doing…….being our best self in our business and our personal lives.