Today I Will Seek to Assist Others

I hope everyone is having a fantastic week. Today, I encourage you to think about assisting others in the pursuit of their goals, dreams, and passions. So often we get caught up in "Me," "What I need," What I want," or other thoughts of the things WE want for ourselves -- things we think will make us feel happy and fulfilled. Yet when we get them or achieve them, we still feel as though something is missing.

The reason we often feel empty and incomplete even after attaining some high personal goal or acquiring the things we thought would make us feel complete is that we are not here merely for ourselves. We are all here for the benefit of humanity and to accomplish things that far transcend our own goals.

Many people are familiar with Abraham Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs." In ascending order of importance, he listed: physical, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization. That's the version most of us were taught. What many people are not aware of is that before his death, Maslow realized this was incomplete. Many people appear to be fully self-actualized, yet they are still reaching for something else. If Maslow's original hierarchy of needs had been right, one could conjecture that once "self-actualization" had been achieved, a person had no reason to keep reaching higher. What Maslow came to realize was that there was one need greater than that of self-actualization. That need is "transcendence" -- the need to contribute to something that goes above and beyond ourselves.

So the question is, what can you do today to help others? It might be to assist a friend, family member, or a coworker in need. Perhaps it will be giving a little time to a group that serves challenged teens in your area. Maybe you will offer to take a little of the daily stress off someone's shoulders at work or at home. The opportunities and possibilities are only limited by your ability to look around you and find opportunities to serve others.

"Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve... You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today, try approaching life with a serving spirit. And have a blessed day.

Dan Gunter
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Receiving the gift of joy from giving...

Recently, I have been shown in my own life the true joy of what must be the greatest paradox of all time: the greatest gift you can receive is the gift that comes from giving to someone else.

I am very blessed and fortunate to be sharing my life with someone who, like myself, gets great joy from sharing love and "being there." A couple of days ago, this point was brought home very strongly to me. I had a really rough day at work. When the day was over, I spent time with my loving soulmate who listened intently to what I had to say and vent. When I was finished releasing my thoughts to her, all I wanted to do was show her how much I care and how wonderful she is. I have been thinking about that evening a great deal. It "drove home" the notion to me that I receive my greatest happiness and contentment with life and the Universe when I am giving to her. I all but completely forgot about how rough my work day had been and found myself enjoying the simple pleasures in life as we walked a trail near a lake, hand-in-hand, just sharing our love, thoughts, and time with one another.

It is in my prayers that everyone can find such a place in their lives and come to know that tremendous pleasure and rewards that come from giving yourself completely to that one person you know you want to spend the rest of your life with.
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