Being vs Acheiving

For two months, all I had to do was be. Now, back at work, back in a big city, I am expected to acheive. I am so tired of constantly acheiving things, and also, perhaps even worse, being judged by what I acheive. It feels like our society is based on acheivement. As a child in school, you are expected to come home with top grades. Later on when you start your carrier, you ar expected to deliver, to be a top acheiver. It doesn't matter so much who you are, but what you do.

In yoga philosophy, it is pointed out that you should not strive after the fruits of your actions. This is a form of non-attachment. If you are attached to the outcome of your action, you will not be totally present in the now, and you will most likely be disappointed by the outcome(things usually don´t come out the way you plan them to). If you act in a right way(following the yamas and niyamas), the fruits will grow naturally. For example, if you do a nice thing for someone with the intention of getting something back, you have acted out of greed. Perhaps this person doesn't immediately return the deed and you get dissappointed. This dissapointment might lead to you becoming angry at this person, you might stop calling, you might start to unconciously punish this person and so on. This will most probably lead to that this person most definately won't return the "kind" gesture, i.e. the fruit of your action did not appear. However, had you acted without any intention of receiving anything in return, but just acted out of the goodness of your heart, perhaps this person would return the goodness in plentitude. The fruits grow, but not as a direct result of a certain action.

Back at work...please boss, raise my salary, I'm really good at being!