René Descartes famously wrote, “I think, therefore I am.” He posited that if you have the consciousness to wonder whether or not you really exist, then that action of questioning is essentially evidence of your existence.
I was recently thinking about how vital movement and physical activity are to our overall well being. Movement can be a powerful way to free yourself from the chatter in your mind. Movement is essential to well being. Let’s take a light-hearted exploration into this theme.
Descartes said that thinking is proof of being. However, I’d say that thinking is proof of consciousness, but consciousness is not actually required to simply exist. To exist, one only needs to be. Rocks don’t have any consciousness, but if you hit your head on one, you will know it exists.
We should admire rocks, for they are confident in their existence. They don’t doubt themselves. They just are. Sometimes it best to observe stillness, and just be. I remember when a wise rock said to me, “I am, therefore I am.”
We humans have our thinking, and then there are the rocks, simply being. In between us and rocks, there is another existentiality. The intermediary between thinking and being is moving.
Interestingly, movement seems to be the most neglected aspect of human existence. Obesity is an epidemic, (and so is depression). We need to ask ourselves, are we existing and living to our fullest? Am I observing all three elements of existence: stillness, physicality, and intellectualism?
By forming a two dimensional foundation on one plane of existence, we might rise further into the third dimension of awareness. That is what makes human beings so special. Far greater than any other living creature, we have the ability to elevate our state. All of us exist in this third dimension of existence, but to varying degrees.
The more robust your three points of contact are with reality, the greater height, perspective, and thus awareness you can achieve.
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