Being and Doing: Some Old Ideas Revisited

The first important idea to accept is the intimate relationship between being and doing. Being always has to come first. This is really just a rephrasing of the previous pages but it is an important concept. That which 'is not', 'does not'. That which does not exist can not possibly 'do' anything.

This is obvious when you think about it. You have to exist in order to do anything. What is not so obvious until you think about it, is the fact that 'being constrains doing'. What you are controls what you do. Everyone knows you can't fry eggs in the freezer or boil water in the blender. Most people would accept that being a plumber doesn't make it easy for you to reprogram the PC and being a computer analysts doesn't do much for you ability to fix the plumbing.

The same rules hold true in a more subtle way for habits. You can not possible stop smoking by being a smoker, and if you are 'trying to give up' smoking then you are still thinking of yourself as 'a smoker'. This is why I say you have to stop thinking of yourself as a smoker, or as a person who wishes to give up smoking and start thinking of yourself as a person who doesn't smoke, as someone who is ultimately a non-smoker. In this way you change the way you are relating to the world and give your self a whole world of new opportunities.

Tell yourself now, I am a Non-smoker, then believe in yourself as well.