Thought Tips by Timothy Noe
Do you ever find yourself asking what you ought to do?
I surely do, and quite often.
But perhaps there’s a more fundamental question we can be asking ourselves, simultaneously removing the pressure for proper action while also providing a helpful guide into forming our behaviors.
The question is nearly exactly the same, save for one word.
Rather than ask: what should I do?
we can instead ask: how should I do?
When I ask myself how should I do, I am no longer confined to particular forms and outcomes but instead become focused on the state of being that is present within me as I do any of them. This focus reduces my perceived need for things to turn out in a certain way, and empowers me to decide how I approach the situation and what sort of spiritual essence I inject into it through my being state.
When I ask myself how should I do, I am amplifying the qualities of being that I see as most desirable, qualities such as loving, kind, and authoritative, which can be selected without much cognitive effort or reliance on external circumstance. The offshoots of the “what” then naturally become saturated with the “how” as surely as stalks of celery saturate themselves with the colored water in which they’re placed (did anybody else do that experiment as a kid?).
The difference between what and how is one of form and content. When we are concerned with the what, we are concerned with the form, which can often be a shallow disappointment. When we are focused on the how, we are instead focused on the content, the substance behind the form. Much like a great work of art seems to express something much greater than its physical form, our actions, when imbued with a profound state of peace, become masterpieces in the world, expanding well beyond the limits of their worldly form.
There’s so much to do today. And praise God that this is the case!
But fret not, nor worry on the specific what. Choose, instead, to focus on the how, and determine how you’d like to influence this world. The what will still come, and perhaps in a form unexpected. But boy, will there be life in that what!
Thank you for sharing this co-creative voyage with me into magnificent completion.
In Much Appreciation,
Timothy
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