What is your ground of being? Where, within you, is there a solid place that gives you ground no matter what is going on around you? That calls you to calmness when others around you are not calm, that is the place inside you that takes in and responds to what goes on around you without being pulled off your center?
Having a certain knowledge of your own ground of being is what gives you agency to act in the world from your deepest values. When you know your ground of being you will sense quickly those times that you are not acting in harmony with that nature. Knowing your ground of being, developing it, means that you don’t react, don’t start or become part of drama, don’t respond to others from a fearful or hateful place.
Our deepest values form our ground of being. But when we are out of touch with our ground we don’t live from those values. For example, let’s say we go to church and hear that God is love and believe that we are faithful to that message. But then upon leaving church we see a homeless person begging and we react with disgust or fear or an inward desire to push that person away. Whoops! We are not living in our values. We are not standing in our ground of being.
It is the work of a lifetime to be willing to hold our ground of being in each moment – as we move through our day, as we respond to a loved one or a client or someone we don’t particularly like. Living in the ground of our being means living a conscious life, being willing to question one’s self rather than questioning another.
If I say that part of my ground of being is peace I cannot then let all the things that go on during a day pull me from that peace. I learn over time to hold that thread of peace even as I am dealing with poor customer service or an angry neighbor or someone who threatens to hurt me. That’s a tall order, right? It takes practice and a true commitment to living one’s values. It’s what Carl Jung called holding the tension of the opposites.
We cannot say we value love if we hate. We cannot say we value peace if we engage in war. We cannot say our customers are precious to us if we treat them badly. We cannot say we value a friend’s relationship if we stand her up or keep her waiting.
Knowing our ground of being takes thoughtfulness and introspection and discovery. It means sitting with what is scary or uncomfortable. It means self-responsibility, not constantly asking others for reassurance. It’s emotional maturity. It’s consciousness. And it brings to one’s life and business the certainty of riches.
Lisa Manyon says
November 11, 2014 at 9:59 amNature ♥ Without a doubt.
Write on!~
Lisa
Mitch Tublin says
November 9, 2014 at 9:05 pmEveryone is so busy, of their own making. Taking the time to relax and take this route would
be an excellent way to calm down.
Mira Dessy, NE, Food Ingredient Guru and author The Pantry Principle says
November 9, 2014 at 8:18 pmVery cool concept. I don’t think many of us take the time to “find our ground.” Thank you for such a thought-provoking post.
Tiffany deSilva says
November 7, 2014 at 11:30 amOoh, I love this, Sue! It really speaks to the importance of living in alignment with your values and walking your talk.
Sue Painter says
November 8, 2014 at 10:07 pmThank you, Tiffany.
Mary Ellen Miller says
November 4, 2014 at 5:14 pmOutstanding post Sue! You are a superb writer. This is a “deep” one and I had to read it twice. Two takeaways: 1- Don’t become part of the drama- fantastic advice on so many levels. Secondly I like the concept of questioning (and working on) one’s self rather than those outside of us. In my faith of Christianity I pray daily to be transformed by Christ. That begins with starting each day with 30 minutes of Bible reading and prayer journaling that allows for that time of self searching. Thanks Sue.
Sue Painter says
November 4, 2014 at 5:22 pmThank you so much, Mary Ellen. See, you do work on your own ground of being every day. 🙂
Sue
Mary Ellen Miller says
November 4, 2014 at 5:24 pmIndeed! I just never called it that before! Thanks again Sue for the soul searching/thought provoking post.
Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist says
November 3, 2014 at 6:29 pmWow, this is a heavy post for you Sue! I hardly recognized you!
This sits really well with me “Knowing our ground of being takes thoughtfulness and introspection and discovery. It means sitting with what is scary or uncomfortable. It means self-responsibility, not constantly asking others for reassurance. It’s emotional maturity.”
Sue Painter says
November 3, 2014 at 7:04 pmHi Trudy,
This is the stuff I love to teach the most, really. 🙂
Sue