Doing it to do it

Am I doing it to do it,

or am I doing it to get it done?

A wise friend mentioned that he asks himself this question, and it is a pertinent one for me to ask myself as well. I’ve been thinking about the importance of presence and living in the present. So, I rather like the perspective the quote below offers, using as example such an ordinary and oft performed activity (especially lately for me with a couple of kids home for the summer and no dishwasher machine – no, I am not a machine…) [from an article on Christian Mindfulness mentioned in previous blog post]:

“Free and loving presence to the present moment is the essence of mindfulness and meditation. You wash the dishes to wash the dishes, intentionally and with as little distraction as possible, not to impress your neighbor or even to provide clean dishes. These motives are extraneous and pertain to the future. You want to stay in the now.”

And another one from Vietnamese Buddhist, Thich Nhat Hanh, found in his book The Miracle of Mindfulness:

"While washing the dishes, you might be thinking about the tea afterwards, and so try to get them out of the way as quickly as possible in order to sit and drink tea. But that means you are incapable of living during the time you are washing the dishes. When you are washing the dishes, washing the dishes must be the most important thing in your life. Just as when you are drinking tea, drinking tea must be the most important thing in your life."

"However many years a man may live, let him enjoy them all." - Ecclesiastes 11:8