Sometimes I get a rush of satisfaction by sticking a few coins in a parking meter that’s about to expire.
I feel like I’m somehow beating the system by preventing a parking ticket from being issued, and I feel like an angel in disguise doing a favor for an unknown friend.Even waving another car to go ahead of me at a four-way stop, or opening a door for someone gives me a rush of pleasure.Small gestures that make a difference in someone’s day, slowly change our planet. The feeling in someone’s heart when they realize that a stranger has done something nice for them trickles out into their own world and they return to their office, home or children a happier person. It’s as though we as fellow human beings fill the often empty tanks of another, and by default, our own tanks are filled as we feel better on some unknown level.
Remember the movie Pay it Forward? I believe that somewhere in the universe, our acts of kindness find their way back to us. It may not be what we expect, but what we put out there eventually boomerangs back in our direction.Because the word “charity” feels as though it’s a “have” giving to a “have not,” I prefer to use the word “seva.” Seva is described by Wikipedia as “selfless service.” It’s not about giving money or time to someone that needs it (although that is a wonderful thing to do), it’s the actual giving of yourself to another human being without anyone knowing about your efforts. The key here is doing something for another without anyone knowing it. YOU know it in your heart, but those around you don’t. It’s like keeping a delicious secret with yourself about yourself. And what makes it even better is imagining the other person’s reaction when they realize someone has done something nice for them completely out of the blue.
I gave an extra $50 to the cashier for the obviously poor man’s groceries behind me one day last year. As I was picking up my bagged groceries trying to leave before he realized it, the cashier told him of my gesture. He grabbed my arm with tears in his eyes and said “Thank you so much, miss. I’m dying of cancer and I’ve been so hungry lately. My appetite has returned and while I’m grateful for that, I haven’t been able to afford good food.” I sobbed in my car for 20 minutes.We just don’t know what those around us are going through and we can’t possibly imagine what our small gesture might do for them.I recently joined forces with someone to raise a lot of money for a country in need. It started as a real act of seva and quickly became about “our efforts” to help. I watched the joy slowly get sucked out of the endeavor. It became about egos and “Wow, look what we’re doing for others” rather than the true purpose of helping. I learned the difference between charity work and seva. There is so much joy in seva. It doesn’t have to be grandiose. It definitely shouldn’t be public. It is a quiet secret that you hold in your heart between you and the person you’re helping.Perhaps this week we can do a few things for another without anyone knowing we’ve done it. Pay for the next person in line behind you at lunch. Give a little cash to a homeless person, regardless of what they will do with it…..it’s not your business and perhaps they just need to have a little hope restored that another person cares. Drop off a bag of pet food at a shelter.Be extra nice to a customer service rep today and tell them at the end of your call that they’ve done a great job.Pick up a piece of garbage, feed a parking meter, or fill a bird feeder. It really doesn’t matter what we do, what matters is that we’re putting kindness out there in the world without any return other than the joy you feel in your heart.And that to me, is the greatest return on investment of all!
xoImages courtesy of freedigitalphotos .net
business man and couple photos by Arvind Balaramanjumping man photo by federico stevaninpuppy by Jenna Mackenziebag by Felixco, Inc.hands by luigi diamantifamily by healingdream
You are LOVE T <3 Reposting this one <3