The Massive Benefits of Contributing Beyond Oursevles
November 01, 2009If you live in Australia and you are a welfare recipient you are among the 7th richest people on the planet. The first time I heard this statistic I was totally blown away. It really put my life into perspective for me.
I am so grateful I live here in this beautiful place and that in the bigger sense of this planet I live somewhere where everyone of us is wealthy! For me contribution goes way beyond the obvious things like financial contribution and volunteering.
I believe that every single one of us has amazing gifts and qualities that we can share with each other. The last centre I owned was a Women’s Wellness Centre and I had so many uplifting experiences there. The kind of experiences that help restore your faith in the infinite possibilities of human nature.
One of my favourite career memories is of our meditation group. At the end of class I would ask the girls to focus on a list of human qualities I had written on a whiteboard and hung in the room. They would all close their eyes, visualise the list and choose a quality that they felt was already an inherent part of their nature or one they would like to develop. We would all then make a committment to ourselves and each other to do our best to purposefully share that quality as often as possible, every day for the coming week with the people in our lives.
Each week before class we would share stories. The happiness that was spread to so many people through that group of women was totally inspiring to everyone. Our little town had the happiest checkout chicks, postal workers, parking officers (just kidding) but you get the picture and seeing my ladies recognize their self worth and develop their self esteem like that was a wonderful experience for me. I can promise you that contributing to someone elses happiness is the best feeling on earth. Just try it for a day!
My grandmother would always say to me, “What you do always comes back to you!” The profoundness of that statement is immense. If you could live your life by it you would surely enjoy a life well lived. When applied to almost any subject the result is the same. If you give happiness to others they feel happy which makes you feel happy. If you take care of yourself and the planet you will enjoy better health which will increase the health of the planet which benefits everyone living on it. Now I understand what my Pop meant by things coming full circle. My grandparents died almost 30 years ago but they are still contributing to my life every day. What legacy will you leave for your children and their children’s children?
The fact that you have taken the time to read this tells me you are probably already an amazing contributing factor to yourself and every one around you…. GOD BLESS YOU FOR ALL YOU DO!!!!!!!