Here are a couple of quotes and a video clip that inspired my Christmas message!!
"I slept and dreamt that life was joy.
I awoke and saw that life was service.
I acted and behold, service was joy."
- Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)
"At the center of the Universe is a loving heart that continues to
beat and that wants the best for every person. Anything that we can
do to help foster the intellect and spirit and emotional growth of
our fellow human beings, that is our job. Those of us who have this
particular vision must continue against all odds. Life is for
service."
- Fred Rogers (a.k.a., "Mister Rogers") 1928-2003
I didn’t know of Rabindranath Tagore but I did know about Mr Rogers and was inspired by his compassion and kindness!
Both quotes give us a great perspective for the Christmas/holiday season. So often we come together during our holidays and all our old family dynamics kick in and we resort to our ‘but what about me’ toddler thinking in the face of the old familiar judgments!
All the old patterns and habits take the front seat and our emotional ‘buttons’ are exposed, vulnerable to a swift attack from a sibling or relative! LOL.
It’s about giving of ourselves!
The whole spirit of Christmas, whether you celebrate it or not, is about giving. But not presents! That whole commercial thing is pervasive and takes away from the true spirit of the season, giving of ourselves by serving others in some way. Which in turn brings us joy!
Lets explore how acting on this spirit of service can awaken us and transform our ‘silly’ season, or any season, month or day, into a joyful experience, like Rabindranath Tagore said.
Several of my friends make a point of taking their children to a homeless shelter to feed people or be of service in some way. They make it an annual experience near Christmas time to reinforce a sense of gratitude for what their children have and an understanding of how little others have, materially and emotionally.
The single most important thing to give is ourselves! Especially our time.
To yourself first!
It’s one of the most precious things we manage and giving ourselves time is a first priority! Making sure we have enough energy to give to others.
Although serving others can energize and nourish us, if we have nothing to give, stretching ourselves even further is not always wise!
I have developed a funny scene in my presentations, where I remind people of the safety message at the beginning of a plane trip. If the plane starts falling and oxygen masks fall from the ceiling, and you have a child, put the oxygen mask on yourself FIRST!
Why is that? Because if you are unconscious you are useless to the child!
It’s the same on land and in life! Without adequate energy and physiological resources, we might be able to keep giving to others but at what expense?
This newsletter is a practical ‘wake up call’!
How do you feel? Really!
Check your internal state; how do you feel? Do you have extra energy and vitality or are you totally exhausted and drained? If it’s the latter, what do you need to recharge yourself?
It doesn’t need to be a six month cruise! It can be just little things every day, a few moments each day to do something for you.
Perhaps it’s a short meditation on your way home (not while you are driving of course!); a monthly massage; more exercise time; time to do something you love doing, learning or dancing or singing or having a bath.
If you stop and think now for a few minutes, I bet you can think of at least one or two things that would really revive and recharge you.
Your mission now is to commit to doing it on a regular basis. If you can start before Christmas or the holidays, you may be surprised at how much more you can serve and therefore feel more joy!
Give to others when you have surplus!
Your next step is to think of ways to teach your children if you have them about serving others and how valuable AND rewarding it is. Who can you serve in your family, community, country? Make it a family project to discuss and decide on the project they all want to do.
Help elderly family or neighbors; do random acts of kindness in a supermarket for a day; or let a waiting car in to the traffic; let people who are obviously rushing go ahead in supermarket queue; pay the toll for the car behind you; visit an old persons home and give some love; visit people in hospital or mental health communities; make gifts for those who are less fortunate; donate all gifts given to you to a chosen charity.
There are a myriad of ways to serve others.
Or maybe you could focus on serving everyone in your family in some way? Some small thing for each person, a little bit of extra love.
Think about each person and their deepest fears. How can you feed the need behind that fear this Christmas so you lift them up and make it a more joyful holiday for them?
If someone loves a particular food, perhaps you can make it for them. Have your children help you. If you know someone loves to visit art galleries for example, give them a card that says you will take them to an exhibition of their choice!
Serving is about being conscious of what others need and then selflessly providing all or a part of it.
The choice of how you do it is up to you, but it takes time to think about you can help fill the needs of others. Oh, and asking them sometimes works as well!
What if you don’t have surplus energy?
Give differently! You can still do things for others that don’t always require great energy! You can give them notes promising to do things later, but remember to do that something!
You can quietly each night spend a little time working on something that will be of service, making food; mending things; writing personalized life history books; making photo collages.
I bet just thinking about the things you can do to serve others will energize you anyway!
Igniting someone else’s spirit or encouraging them or listening to them takes very little energy. In fact, you usually receive more than you give!
Giving people a TA DA; acknowledging the good job a busy and rushed shop assistant has done; smiling at people; asking someone how they feel, and being genuinely interested or just being a good finder around everyone are all ways you can serve others and brighten up their day!
Use this newsletter as a trigger for discussion in your family! It’s a wonderful way to help children understand the concept of serving others.
If you live alone and don’t have a bunch of friends with whom to discuss this then make a comment on our FB page MEL INSERT LINK - and I am sure others will connect with you!
Or just have your own little serving party! Where you enjoy an evening working out what you are going to do to be of service to every person in your family, to all your friends, your colleagues, your community and soon you will be overflowing with joy!
Everything I write and do through my work, I aim to be of service. To inform people or challenge thinking or wake up consciousness or shine a light on the joy already inside you, or just reinforce that you are doing a wonderful job in your life!
Mel, Ken and I hope that this holiday, the Christmas season (we celebrate Christmas!) - is one of great joy for you and the path to that joy is through service.
Remember….we dream about having a joyful life but until we wake up and consciously do something to serve others, it’s difficult to know true joy!
"I slept and dreamt that life was joy.
I awoke and saw that life was service.
I acted and behold, service was joy."
- Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)
