“You were born with potential.
You were born with goodness and trust.
You were born with ideals and dreams.
You were born with greatness.
You were born with wings.
You are not meant for crawling, so don’t.
You have wings.
Learn to use them and fly.”
– Mevlana Jelalu’ddin Rumi
We are all put on this earth to serve other people and contribute. That is the sole purpose of our existence. My view of service used to be somewhat distorted. I always viewed “service” as helping in shelters, Peace Corps, food pantry, mission work in other countries, – a volunteer organization of some kind. I didn’t think of the jobs we are paid to do everyday as “service”.
Today I went to the gym, then for an eye exam, then to the mall and the grocery store. After reading the above over morning coffee, in each place I went I took note of the people going about their work day providing kindnesses, conveniences, as well as necessities for me. Whether we are volunteering or doing our paid jobs, we are all in the exact place we were meant to be in order to provide service to other people. We are all important. We all have wings that we unfurl each day as we go about what we sometimes think as just “another day, another dollar”, on this earth.
It’s easy to think when we’re in the middle of draining the pasta for dinner and the kids are arguing that it’s just another mundane day and we’ll get up and do it all over again tomorrow. When you have a family and work full time, it easily becomes the hamster wheel. As we quiet the kids and put the meal on the table, that is the time to think fleetingly “this is an important job”. When the alarm goes off at 5 am and you make it to your place of employment just in time by 8 am, again think fleetingly, as your coffee spills on your shoe, “This is an important job. I am an important person, with greatness and potential to give to those I come into contact with today”.
Last year, during my second year of retirement, I was knocked a little off kilter as I began missing my main means of service. Suddenly stopping teaching after 35 years didn’t hit me very hard my first year. It was this past year that feelings of “not doing anything to help anyone” began to creep over me. These loose ends were an added part of my journey. I had to morph into a new way of giving. I knew my hospice work was important, but what about what I did with the rest of my time? Slowly but surely people began connecting with this blog and just knowing that writing about my journey was helping others move along theirs, made me realize that my “importance and greatness” were not all used up just because I no longer teach.
Retired, working, being a stay at home mom, – it doesn’t matter. Our “importance and greatness” of what we have to offer others is never drained or used up.
Read this one more time – slowly:
“You were born with potential.
You were born with goodness and trust.
You were born with ideals and dreams.
You were born with greatness.
You were born with wings.
You are not meant for crawling, so don’t.
You have wings.
Learn to use them and fly.”
Now, whatever the very next thing you’re going to do after reading this, pause and fleetingly consider it’s importance as a service to yourself or others. Whether it’s going to brush your teeth, get the clothes out of the dryer, send an email, or read to your child – sigh and know your exactly where you’re supposed to be doing very important things necessary for caring about yourself or someone else.
Yes, I said caring for yourself. Caring for oneself is a form of service to God, too. He has given us the responsibility of taking good care of ourselves, both physically and mentally, so we may be in tip top condition to go out and do His work again tomorrow. If I had let myself cave into fear, anxiety, and depression this past year, what good would I be to anyone else? I’d be a liability instead. Self-care is paramount in being able to be of service to others. So, as you finish reading this post, in addition to doing for others, remember to do one nice thing for yourself today, too.
And so, as another day goes by, we walk this journey hand in hand, and….I have written.
Below: Struck by beauty in the mall parking lot – even trees contribute…..
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