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Friday, November 25, 2011

Kim K. does "hot"

There's an important distinction between what we do and what we are.  But I think we often categorize things in a way that is neither helpful nor true.

In my everyday attitudes and language, I might think:

"Wow.  He is so organized."

But that's not really the case.  Working and living in an organized way is a skillset.  It's an activity not an identity.  It's something that must be practiced and cultivated or it's lost.  It takes work and time.  It's not that he is organized; he does organized.

A bit on the flip side, I might think:

"Wow.  Kim Kardashian is attractive."

But that's not really true either.  Being billboard attractive is not a trait, it's an activity that demands discipline, resources, and effort.  It's not that Kim is attractive; she does attractive.  It's what she spends a great deal of her time and imagination on.  And just like "organized," you or I could do it too.

The list goes on.  You do creative.  You do famous.  You do grateful.  You do rich.  You do funny.  You do healthy. You do kind. I think you do most of the things that go into the everyday descriptions of any person.

What you are is a very different list.  It speaks not to your core competencies but to your core, period.  To what is unalterable.  These are the things that don’t and can’t change no matter how you might feel on a given day, no matter what others think of you, no matter how you might draw up your wins and losses to date.

You are a son or daughter and a friend.  You are alive (and sacred for it).  You are a member of the human family.  You are embodied.

You are beautiful and perfect in your being.

You are a decision maker literally thousands of times every day.  You are important.

And you are here for every single moment that you are here.

Do with it.

1 comment:

  1. wow. best post ever. seriously.
    i had always had a niggling thought about these things - the distinction between identity and action and how related the two are - but had never been able to articulate it to myself quite so well as you have.
    i have a theory that, if we act enough we hard-wire those actions into our identity. then we no longer only 'do' them, we 'are' them. practice make if not perfect at least easier.
    big christmas love to you friend xx

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