So how was Thanksgiving Day for you?
Whatever you did and whoever you shared the day with, I bet you experienced some moments of gratitude for what you have and the people in your life.
But what about the people sitting around the global table? What can you do from now on to contribute to them?
This is the fifth in my series of five special posts for thanksgiving week – and this article is all about serving others.
We all have deep within us this calling and a capacity to help others, to make a difference in some way and to make ourselves count.
I always had this urge even when as a child but the urge got submerged as I got on to the treadmill of life. But in recent years, I have got involved with Nirvana School and other charities, directly and indirectly.
Also, through my work and my writing I would like to feel that I am doing my bit for the world.
However, service is not just about doing charity work, or even “looking good”. It is about creating something sustainable and leaving a legacy for those to follow.
Service is about empowering people and giving them their dignity.
So what’s stopping you from doing even more for the world? Are you fearful of changing the world?
Then feel the fear and change the world anyway!
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” – Winston Churchill
The beauty of being of service is that anyone can serve. You just need the willingness and the desire to make a difference. You don’t need much to get started. Just ask Dr Martin Luther King:-
“Everyone can be great, because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace – a soul generated by love” – Dr Martin Luther King
I am not sure who said this but I remember these poignant words – if you serve wholeheartedly, you are bound to succeed as there is so little competition.
It is not even about “succeeding” – it is about doing what you can to make a difference to others.
At the same time, there may be little competition right now, but I really believe that this is changing rapidly.
I am meeting more and more people who want to serve and make a difference. You only have to check out my last post and read about all the amazing bloggers committed to making a positive change in the world.
There is definitely a change in the air and a major shift happening in the world, as we all wake up to the realization that we are all one, and serving each other is the least we can do for humanity.
So ask yourself:-
How can I begin TODAY to serve others wholeheartedly?
What ONE thing, small or big, can I do today that will make someone’s life easier?
What can I do EVERY day from now onwards to serve others?
Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
Thank you everyone who has read and commented on these series of 5 thanksgiving articles. I hope you got a lot out of these posts.
Please also check out the other 4 articles:-
Thanksgiving Week Lesson 1 – How To Embrace What You Already Have
Thanksgiving Week Lesson 2 – How To Let Yourself Give and Receive
Thanksgiving Week Lesson 3 – How To Add a Little Sizzle to Your Relationships
Thanksgiving Week Lesson 4 – How To Harvest the Wisdom from My Top Blogger Friends
Thanks!
Help to Spread the Word
Please tell your friends about Make It Happen by using the share buttons below. Every Retweet and Facebook share helps me spread my message. I look forward to seeing you here again soon. Thank you for reading! – Arvind Image courtesy of on1stsite
Arvind,
I feel that while I have and do serve in my “real” job as a mortgage banker by helping people buy homes – it doesn’t fulfill me as much as helping people become truly whole by reconnecting to their dreams and and discovering their own true purpose and gifts. To empower others to unveil this brilliant light within themselves is truly the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced, and I never tire of it. It’s a gift to them, but it also feels like a gift to myself at the same time. When we help someone else we receive as much as they do!
Angela, great that you have made the distinction between the fulfill you get and don’t get in your day job and the other things you do.
As you say, when we help someone else, we receive as much as they do. Indeed, sometimes we receive a lot more:-)
This has been a great series, Arvind. Thanks for writing it.
I’ve heard it said that to have a situation in your life, first create the situation for someone else… That’s either a spiritual basis for outsourcing or a paraphrase of Neale Donald Walsh.
Gip
Thanks Gip.
Great analogy – to get what you want, help enough other people get what they want.
There is no rocket science to this, is there?!
Follow up on Gip’s comment — A Course in Miracles teaches that we give what we want to receive. We teach what we want to learn. The cosmic loop, I guess.
When Ken Kesey was asked in his later years what he was doing to help the world, he answered “This year I’m growing asparagus.” At first blush, that might seem flip, but the more I thought about that, the more I found meaning in his response. If we tend our own garden (inner as well as outer) first, we can be of more service to the world.
In my own life, as I was raising my kids, I found that when I was off my inner base, it was reflected in how I interacted with them, especially my autistic son. His behavior was like a mirror of my inner well being. When I would quite trying to control his behavior and go inward to ground myself, his behavior would magically (!) improve.
Long path to get to your question. What can I do today and every day? I can pay attention. If I am in the right place in myself, I can be attuned to and respond to the needs of those around me, near and far.
I better go meditate right now!
Thank you for an excellent series, one I will reread many times throughout the year.
Hello again Gallen,
Thanks for sharing about what you will do today and everyday. Paying attention to where you are at and gettting attuned to those around you and responding to their needs will certainly make a huge difference to everyone.
Your family are very lucky to have you around – and even more so as you become more and more grounded.
And I really enjoyed your story to illustrate your point:-)
Love gratitude and thanksgiving , leads one to giving to others, to true service. How can I give is a question I ask myself a lot these days, to an answer that I am yet discovering. I give support, I aid in the journey of self -discovery , in the journey of healing. It is yet to be sustainable and anything close to a legacy but I am beginning. Thank u for a great reminder.
Uzma, it’s great that you are asking yourself that question – how can I give?
No matter what you are doing, it’s already part of your legacy:-)
Hi Arvind,
Each one of us really can make a big difference in life. That is why we have to know what our purpose is, so we can serve ourselves and others. Thanks for sharing
Dia, welcome to my blog.
Finding out our purpose and realising that it’s somehow to serve others will really fire us up!
I usually say to people – don’t wait till your supposed purpose becomes clear. Just make kindness and love your purpose.