“The miracle of love comes to you in presence of uninterpreted moment. If you are mentally somewhere else, you miss real life.” —Byron Katie “You have one year to live”.

For a good part of my life I have wondered, with a fair degree of anxiety, if someone, someday would utter these terrifying words to me. In my gloomy nightmare it’s been discovered that I have an incurable disease, and my life will soon be over.

Instant grief, fear of pain and suffering, incredible sadness all come rushing into my imagination as I create a scenario in my heart about my own death. Who will love my children way I do? Will my husband find love again? How many dreams will I never see come true? What happens to me when I die?

When I blend these painful thoughts with our societal values to accomplish and succeed at life at any cost, it’s no wonder I experience stress and fear. I feel cultural treadmill constantly pushing me forward toward something. How can I die without achieving right career, perfect relationship, money, and a mission in life that will define my purpose for being alive?

I’m not suggesting that we shouldn’t “do” things, have goals and live our dreams to fullest. What I am wondering about is other half of formula; what we in western world collectively condemn as frivolous and not productive. Being.

I would ask you this question…What would you BE in your life?

Somehow, someway, you have to BE you first, then you DO what you love.

To BE who you are sounds very simple, but it is not. All of us are programmed from a very early age to DO something so we can BE somebody. We learned that certain professions mean success, and others are not. Go to school! BE a lawyer, a doctor, or whatever it was in your town. We learned that money meant you could BE someone. After all, how could you BE someone unless you had a nice house, a nice car and belonged to right crowds?