Many people have lots of ideas about what they want from the world.
Sure, we set goals and have ambitions, and we likely also recognize that we have to put in a fair amount of effort in order to get what we want. That said, the focus still remains on what we want, which is essentially suggesting that our perception is primarily focused on ourselves.
And I'm not saying for a moment that I'm holding myself above that particular tendency! I think it's something we're all guilty of doing.
A couple of days ago, I found myself watching a YouTube clip in which somebody had been given the opportunity to ask His Holiness, the Dalai Lama one single question… and in response to a question about how to best approach overcoming the sense of hopelessness many young people feel His Holiness’ answer was to focus on altruism, because as long as you are worried about depression and anxiety your focus is on yourself not on the actual healing of the world. Altruism makes you feel good, and that in turn helps lift that anxiety and depression.
Afterwards, I thought about what we actually give to the world. A lot of people operate under the illusion that “giving” that makes a real difference is something HUGE that is out of their reach… but it doesn’t have to be.
What we give to the world can actually be quite small. Or, at least it might feel quite small to us, but to the person on the receiving end it feels quite significant.
For example, we have an elderly friend who has given up his driver’s license because he feels like his reaction time and eyesight is just not good enough anymore. Of course he lives 6 miles (9.5km) from the shops in our town so life is not so easy for him anymore.
Since I go to town at least every other day I just make a point of stopping by his house and pick up his laundry to take to the laundry service, or pick up some groceries for him while I'm at the market, anyway. It’s a very small thing for me because I go right past his house every time I go to town, but for him it's a lifeline.
There are so many ways in which we can give back to the world. We just have to be willing to step outside our predefined boxes of what giving is ”supposed to look like.” If we're willing to do that, we can easily help make the world a better place without having to turn it into some kind of huge ”production.”
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great weekend!
How about YOU? Do you give back to the world? What does "giving" mean, to you? Do you do so in small ways, or through very large contributions? Do you feel better about yourself, as a result of helping others? Do leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!
(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — NOT A CROSSPOST!!!)
Created at 20220219 00:27 PST
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