Busy Being Born
January 2011

Busy Being Born

One of the great poets of our time, Bob Dylan, sang it out like this, "He who's not busy being born is busy dying."  The words of wisdom are all around us - in Hallmark cards, on calendars with beautiful photos, and in our writing journals.  But most of the time these truths don't even penetrate skin-deep, let alone ignite our hearts.

The truth is impossible to let in when we are moving at the pace we feel is necessary to keep up.  "Keep up with what?" is what we forget to ask...until we get hit with the flu, or significant period of lost income, or worse.  Then we realize our generation believes focusing on a sustainable lifestyle or creating an economy that works for everyone is a good idea, but optional.  And when we recover from the flu, we have a lot to catch up on and we scramble back onto the treadmill to keep up.

We can do better.  We can think bigger.  We can search our souls for the contribution we are meant to make.  We can find the moments we hesitate or hold back.  We can pay attention to the choices that leave us with a subtle feeling of compromise.  We can work consciously with passion and purpose.  We can offer services and products that enrich society with what we really need.  We can step up to who we are.

First, we must stop and reflect on, "How am I to busy myself with renewal...with awakening...with reinvention?"  I want to become the next upgraded version of me in 2011.  It won't take any new gadgetry.  It's not a matter of improving our electronics unless our hearts are truly awake.  Then they are of great service to us, rather than the other way around! 

It will only require that I stop long enough to reflect on the seeds that are already planted in my heart.  I am excited to watch them grow.  And they do grow when I water them every day.  Who will I get to work with this year?  What will they accomplish?  What difference will we make?  My heart knows it is already underway.  Are you busy being born?  Happy New Year!!!