We live in a world that constantly pushes us into action. With digital acceleration and the exponential growth of data, the rhythm of “doing” intensifies. What once took months to transmit from one continent to another now takes milliseconds. We’ve gained speed—but we’ve lost depth.
The faster we go, the more we feel that time slips through our fingers. We live with the impression that there’s never enough of it. But this isn’t just a scheduling issue—it’s an existential one. We have come to associate our value with activity, and our identity with what we do.
Yet there is another way of experiencing time.
To understand this, we need to recognize that “doing” is bound to linear time: schedules, deadlines, productivity. It thrives in past/future thinking—”What did I achieve?” “What must I finish next?” In contrast, “being” unfolds in the present moment, outside of this mental construct of time. In the state of “being”, we are simply here. We don’t have to do anything, change anything, or prove anything. There is nothing to accomplish—only to witness.
At first, this feels unfamiliar—even threatening—to a mind conditioned by doing. Slowing down the mental machine, and entering presence, takes discipline and inner training. But as thoughts settle and the mental noise fades, a deeper quality emerges: peace without object, awareness without urgency.
From a psychological perspective, it’s also interesting to ask: What keeps me constantly doing? Often, it’s not just the outside world—but internalized “programs” we carry unconsciously. These are inherited from our culture, our family, our educational systems. Resting is often seen as laziness. Pausing creates guilt.
Psychologist Taibi Kahler named some of these unconscious drivers:
- Be Perfect
- Please Others
- Be Strong
- Try Hard
- Hurry Up
Each of these inner voices pushes us to meet invisible standards. Once we start noticing them, we can choose differently. We can recognize the voice, thank it—and not obey.
The practice of “being” is not about passivity or withdrawal. It’s about reclaiming our relationship to time, to self, and to inner silence. From that space, our actions become clearer, freer, and more meaningful.