🎉 🎉 Welcome back — and congratulations on making it to Day 7! 🎉 🎉
Day 7: Contribution — Your Gifts and Offerings to the World
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. — Winston Churchill
I remember a therapist that I was seeing many years ago say to me, “Go volunteer somewhere, as that will help you.” I was shocked! What? I could hardly get out of bed and he was telling me to help others? This hardly seemed a cure for my depression!
I left his office feeling disheartened, unacknowledged and misunderstood. A day or two later, I found myself thinking about a homeless shelter where a client of mine had been. I could hardly believe it was me getting out of my pyjamas, showering, putting on clean clothes, and driving to the shelter and asking how I might help.
That moment was a turning point for not only moving me out of my depressed state, but acknowledging the wisdom of my therapist. No matter how down we may be, there is always someone else who can benefit from our heart offerings. And giving is absolutely about receiving!
Volunteering at that shelter showed me that I still had lots in me to give. Up until then, even though I am a trained psychotherapist, I’d forget how much I had to give. When going through a blue spell, I felt I had lost that ability, which was what gave me my joy! I could reflect to other people their inner beauty, listen as they shared their heartbreak, and watch, over time, as their lives improved. That was the biggest reward of all. A short while after I started volunteering, I return to my work, renewed in remembering my purpose.
Contribution doesn’t necessarily mean big things in the way that you may think of them, such as being a social activist fighting on the front line of injustice. It could be as natural as opening a door for someone and saying with a cheerful smile, “I hope you have a beautiful day.” The simplest acts of kindness can change a person’s life.
You have no idea that your comment, “Have a beautiful day” might be just what that person needed to hear. What if in that split second it lifted her spirits and she started thinking about a project she’d been putting off, went home, turned to the last page she had written in her novel and kept on going? And what if that novel later became a best seller, changing countless lives? And where did it begin? From a simple comment you gave her, “Have a beautiful day!”
Consider the countless ways you can make a difference in the course of a day. I’ll tell you the best way of all is by being the Best You that you can be! Choosing to be healthy in mind, body and spirit is the biggest gift you can give yourself and others. Why? First, because you feel great, and second, with no effort on your part, your positive energy is transmitted out into the world. You need do nothing more than show up as you are to transform the lives of others. You have no idea of the reach that pebble in the pond will have . . . and that is worth everything!
Now, let’s meditate.
In preparation for this guided meditation, please gather your journal or notebook, pen, and a glass of water and put them beside you, ready to hydrate and write when the meditation is over.
So, journal and pen ready. Please get yourself comfortable. Make sure you’ll be undisturbed for the next 30 minutes. Here’s today’s meditation:
Action step: Take a drink of water, set your timer for 10 minutes, and Write Where You Are. “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give” — Winston Churchill. Write what this means to you and how you choose to contribute your gifts and offerings to the world.
Action step: Go to our Facebook group and share your contributions with the group; remember to read and respond to the others taking this journey alongside you.
I’ll see you in the FB group this morning, and later at the Celebration, where we’ll all congratulate each other for showing up for this 7-Day Challenge.
Come to the Celebration today on Zoom so that I can see your face! It’s your chance to ask me questions and share a bit about your experience. There will be surprises too!
Here’s the link to join the Zoom call today at 1 pm PT.
In case you need it, here’s the Meeting ID: 810 3849 3353
The Celebration will also be streaming to our Facebook group, so if you prefer, you can watch it from there.
See you soon!
Junie
PS — If you have any questions, please tag me in the Facebook group.