Human Being or Human Doing

Last week, I returned from a stretch of travel only to dive headfirst into a whirlwind of activity: an event at my son's school, baseball games, recital practice, Savannah Bananas games, and church commitments. By Sunday afternoon, I found myself itching to tackle my to-do list for the upcoming week.

I'll be transparent with you: I'm wired in a way that the more I do, the more worthy I feel. It's a trap I fall into repeatedly – sometimes focusing more on quantity than quality, more on activity than accomplishment.

Do you ever feel that way? Do you find your worth in what you do, not who you are?

This mindset reminds me of a beautiful poem I recently came across about "A Girl Who Didn't Stop." She climbed every mountain without pausing at the top. She danced through fields until each blade of grass was covered in dew. The sun knew her name, and so did the moon.

But beneath this constant motion was a fear – "a fear of sitting still; that if you're not moving forward, it must mean you never will."

The poem concludes with a profound realization: "For she was a human doing, human moving, human seeing; but she had never really taken the time to be a human being."

The poem’s conclusion is a profound realization for me.

How many of us are "human doings" rather than human beings?

When we're constantly in motion, we miss the richness of life. We sacrifice depth for breadth, presence for productivity.

In leadership, this can be particularly harmful. Leaders who are always doing often fail to:

1. Recognize opportunities for strategic conversations with clients
2. Listen deeply to their team members
3. Pause to reflect on important decisions in the business

The most effective leaders I know aren't those who do the most; they're those who know when to stop, reflect, and simply be.

I love this quote from Peter Drucker: “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”

My challenge to you isn’t to be less productive. Rather, it's a call to work on the right things – the things that align with your deepest values and purpose. It's permission to pause, to breathe, to be purposefully present in your life and leadership.

The next time you feel the urge to fill every moment with activity, ask yourself:

• What am I avoiding by staying busy?
• Where could I benefit from slowing down?
• How might stillness enhance my leadership?
• What would it look like to find worth in being, not just doing?

So today, I invite you to join me in this counterintuitive journey – to find the power of purposeful presence. Exchange endless activity for intentionality on the most important things.

‍