How Do We Both Win?

It's often difficult to explain how reading something good, hearing something uplifting, seeing someone who lives with strength and peace can inspire and motivate and provide energy that wasn't there before... unless it was already in us "sleeping".

Life's Not Meant to Be Too Complicated... 

"Pure Joy"

Service Is Only Service If We Both Win

I have to come to believe that life is just not fair. I know, great discovery right? I don't mean that we don't all have an equal chance to live happily. Viktor Frankl, Helen Keller, Job all messed that up for me. Blame hasn't worked and heaven knows if I actually stopped to really pay attention to what I have instead of what I haven't, my heart would probably burst with gratitude. 


Sharing time, talents, energy, resources, thoughts and prayers with someone else is supposed to make me happy, isn't it? (not a trick question - It is.) Yet sometimes it doesn't make me happy at all. In fact, looking back I may even feel regret while thoughts of "if only..." cross my mind. I think I know one reason why... if I give my house away and become homeless I haven't really provided a service and definitely won't feel happy. If I give any gift unwillingly and with hard feelings, I'm told it's better to have kept the gift. 
If only I had a nickel for every nickel I gave....


How Can I Serve and Win (be happy)? 
First it's not about equal or fair (see above). I don't want an equal gift in return for what I give, but instead I want to feel happy. It's about giving good gifts. It's about sharing with the intent to leave someone better than before we met. To Improve. Notice I didn't say change. I am coming to strongly believe that the word "change" is the elevator that goes down a lot faster than up. Let's Improve instead.


What's the point of any of our life's experiences if we don't use them to help inspire, strengthen, lift someone else? Therefore, I believe our life's experiences are not for us, but for us to be able to give better gifts and live a better quality and happier life. To relate, to empathize, understand, actually feel more than the few standard emotions most of us have come to rely on. How cool is the ability to expand my vocabulary of feelings into an encyclopedia of heightened senses and experiences...... ok so let's start with one or two like being more kind, attentive, patient, peaceful.


Maybe like Ben Franklin said in his autobiography (not quoting), I wrote my virtues to define perfection. I never reached my goal of living the 13 virtues perfectly, in fact I was far from it. But, I am better for having sought each day to be the best I know how to be. 


It seems that today is my only day to give. "I may not pass this way again, so if there is any service that I can render let me do it now, as we may never meet again."


I can't love those I don't serve. The more selfish I am, the less I feel and the more I turn people into objects and projects. It would seem that I am going to have to continue to practice, fail (lose a few nickels and sweat equity sometimes) to ultimately learn how to give, how to serve and be happy while doing it. 

Bryan Packham

http://i2i2blog.blogspot.com/