One of the most profound words of wisdom that I ever heard regarding self development was that the first step was to get out and help someone else. This insight helped me to identify that the key to fulfillment and happiness was to discover a higher purpose than our own needs and desires.
Steve Pavlina describes this in a recent post when he says, But when I focus on serving others, it’s like I’m plugging into a much more powerful battery. Energy flows through me instead of from me.
This is very true. I remember that April and I were given such a gift when on our honeymoon. We were eating our lunch in a busy shopping centre. There were no other tables left but we had a spare chair at our table. There was a well dressed lady with a plate of food who was obviously looking for somewhere to sit. We invited her to sit at our table.
During the course of our meal we chatted with her. We had very little money at that stage of our life and but were very happy with our purpose. This lady had lots of money but described a life that was full of unhappiness. When we finished we went our separate ways.
April and I got onto a train to go to our next destination. A couple of stops further along the lady that we shared lunch with go onto the train. She recognised April and I and sat with us. She got up to leave at the next stop but as she did she handed us a large sum of money. It was enough to allow us to be able to enjoy some nice things on our honeymoon.
This demonstrated the power of being able to share our hearts with someone else. We may not always receive a financial reward but there will always be a positive benefit when share in this way. We received from this lady a gift of love and all it required was for her to experience our heart response to her situation
Thanks Steve for reminding me of that special moment in our lives. The post is spot on and a reminder that although most of the world will tell us that the most important person in the world is me that this is not the whole truth. Sure we have to care for ourselves but we must never forget that we are social beings designed to contribute to the greater good of all of us.
