When I say someone who needed it, it is easy to picture victims of tragedies, accidents or those who are ill. But the truth is… in our life, we all have needs of various kinds and various sizes. They are little ones and big ones coming up every day and if we only give of ourselves, whether it be time, money or good feelings and a smile only when those we are giving to are dying, mourning or destitute, then a couple dynamics start and/or continue.
One is that the world you live in, your community and your immediate environment becomes or stays one of individuals who are only looking out for themselves. A perfect example is what happens with most teenagers who are now spreading their wings and getting new privileges never before enjoyed. Feelings of “I don’t have to…” and “You can’t make me…” are devastating to every facet of society, including the person carrying these beliefs.
Being only or primarily “self-centered” is what makes people take things that aren’t theirs. It causes hazing over or “forgetting” the truth even though there are certain bad consequences to others. This sick mentality of hiding the truth to escape a potential punishment is facilitated in our homes, our schools and in our jobs. When honesty is only offered up when it won’t hurt, then there is no learning, no growing and we ALL get hurt by it. I’m convinced that honesty and compassion may be the most important virtues that a person could possess.
The knowledge that, “We got away with that one!” doesn’t help-it hurts. It teaches us to look for short-cuts to the reward by cheating. It prevents us from doing something nice for someone else “just because.” It makes us believe that “winning” and “getting mine” are the only things that count. Doing our best is the most important thing. We must love our capacity to do the best possible whatever we take the task in hand to Accomplish Our Dreams.
What’s this got to do with “All you need is love”? Because love is doing what’s best for all, because love is believing that you get more by giving more, not hoarding what little you’ve got, because love is knowing that you’ve got incredible talents (you do!) and using them for a larger good, because love is seeing the good in others and helping it shine, because love is feeling the fear and doing it anyway and because love is continuing to learn and compassionately helping others to learn, too.
In the weeks that have followed since September 11th in USA and 26th November in India we’ve all seen what love is. Here’s the challenge… Keep it in mind always. As a normal human being, every time we cheat and try to find justification, lie to protect ourselves or others, yell insults to others in the name of “just being honest”, ignore someone who needs assistance …every time we do these things, we teach ourselves to do it again. We teach those around us to do them. And we become something we despise in others.
It’s awfully hard to have high self-esteem and feel worthy of success then, isn’t it? It’s not hard to wonder why most people don’t achieve more in life; we don’t think we’re worth it. Not after all we’ve done “to” others instead of “for” others. We’ve all got it in us. I’ve seen it. You’ve seen it. But we only occasionally show brief glimmers of it. We may show more today.
Do your best. Help someone before they ask. Tell the truth. Teach what you know. Earn your rewards and you’ll get more than you think. Just give it a try. Don’t worry about what reactions you do or don’t get from anyone else. The most important thing is that YOU know you’re doing right and showing love in all that you do. Give all your passion in everything you do today and I’ll bet you’ll sleep better tonight than you have in a long, long time. To Accomplish Your Dreams, you must believe that you have unlimited capacity to love, you are a shining example of love in action, that love is growing and expanding in your life, that others are naturally drawn to you and that you are worthy of love and praise.
Be happy – Accomplish Your Dreams By Extending Your Hand of Love to all Those who Need it.