Serving

Helping others is not limited to providing food, shelter, and so forth but includes relieving the basic causes of suffering and providing the basic causes of happiness.
Dalai Lama (Desktop calendar; Andrews McMeel, 2018)

Hmmm!  I am so blown away over the synchronized way these quotes show up as the day's quotes just when I am pondering the very same thing. 

Ego's View on Service

Anyway, I went to bed wondering what to do with the rest of my life.  I am ready to give it away, to truly serve.  (Well, at least  I think I am until ego chimes in.) 

I awoke this morning to hear ego chattering away in the mess that is my head.  :):   Are you crazy lady?  You are absolutely exhausted from offering four yoga classes a week...what are you going to physically be able to do? You can't even clean your house.  Besides you blew away your real chance to serve as a nurse...now that is a devoted service...what can you possibly give the world now that trumps that? Besides you have been hiding from the world.  You really want to go back out there and "do' something? You don't even have the "oompf" to deal with the problems your own family brings to you.  Get real!

Sigh...ego is a nasty dude, isn't he ( I picture ego as a "he" for some reason and I don't know why)? But it does make us think. I do have some physical limitations...my body cries out when I step over that very delicate line between "just enough" and "too much". Right now my finances are very, very limited. I give what I can but it is not enough. I have a soap opera of drama and events right in my immediate surroundings.  Emotionally and mentally I feel overwhelmed processing through my own petty issues. How do I help others?

Sigh!

Giving Our Limited  Life Away

How can I give my life away, knowing that it has these limitations? Would it be like feeding the hungry with a bag of potatoes that are half rotten?  Seeking to help build shelter when I have no tools? Listening to those who need to talk when I have no ears?  I don't know?

What can I "do"?  As much as I prefer "be" to "do"...there is a time for doing when it comes to service to the world.  How can I serve the world? I want to serve...I truly, truly do.

What would we  do if we had no perception of limitation ( because that is all it is...a perception, right?) We could go out and take care of sick and dying bodies in areas where there was not enough people doing such.  We could bring food to the hungry.  We could help build houses for those without homes, dig wells for those with no running water.  We could sit with the lonely and those afraid.  We could teach those who needed basic education. We could offer our non-judgmental presence to those who have been judged or condemned. There is a lot we can do!

Hmmm!

Though I am no longer a nurse...I can still volunteer some service to those bodies that need it, can't I? That skill set and knowledge is a part of me now. I can still teach...I have that skill set too. Though it would not be a lot...I still have some of these things in me to give away, don't I?

 But the thing is,  it doesn't have to be elaborate, does it?  If I had the energy I would do anything.  Can I help to bring food to the hungry?  I am sure there is a way. Can I help build homes? After the sloppy  DIY's I did around here I am sure that others would want that  that help to be very minimal lol. but maybe I could do something. There are things I can do.

 I want to do something that benefits others. I want to help relieve the basic cause of suffering and provide the basic source of happiness for those in need.  I am so, so aware now...that this living thing is not all about me anymore. My problems are so petty.

I will find my way...we all will eventually serve humanity in a beneficial way.

But I do need to listen to ego just a bit...there is some truth there.  I do have bodily , financial and circumstantial limitations right now.  I must allow them...and then   find my way around those and through those. 

And it is true... I have been hiding out from the world instead of interacting in it.  It felt so heavy to me for so long I wanted to get away from it. I have also  allowed my fear of getting further hurt to prevent me from truly serving others.  Now I want to step back out there and serve in some way.

Help

"Help" is a tricky concept to deal with.  I must be careful how I use it. Before I begin any "action" I do need to further establish this sense of being.  I will give far more from practicing stillness perception than I ever would from jumping down into other's misery and drowning with them.

And I can begin my serving here...in my home ...with my loved ones.  When they come to me with their suffering, I can meet them in non reactive spaciousness.  I don't have to have the answers or the physical ability to help...I just need to offer my presence without slipping into their story and getting lost in it. Hmmm!

There is a way to help and to serve...and I will! That is my mission now.  Besides opening up to the peace of mind that is within me, I want to serve from there. I am going to pray and meditate on that.  :)

All is well.

Eckhart Tolle ( March 2016) Omega 3. Namaste Publishing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld2YRg23vkY

hmmm!