The Gift of Serving Others

Serving others is refreshing... much like a cool rain.  Photo credit: My husband.

Positive Pensées

Kathy King

The Gift of Serving Others

“We can’t help everyone, but we can help someone.”

Ronald Reagan

To serve, to give, means to look outside of yourself. 

To pause, take a moment, and see someone else.

To take the focus from inward to outward, to find a new way to see.

So much of life is finding the right path. 

Have you paused for a moment and wondered if that is the same for someone else?

To look outside of yourself, to see the human being in need, it’s a gift that needs to be passed on for all to see.

To know that we are part of a bigger purpose and plan.

That plan involves blessings that are truly quite grand.

That little act of service can make a huge difference to someone, even if it is in a very small way. 

Put down the phone, look outside your bubble. 

Find someone who needs a blessing.

Find someone who needs a kind deed. 

It will keep you quite humble. 

Life is less about self and more about selflessness.

Find someone who needs a blessing, a word of edification.

I promise you that act of service will come back and help you find your blessing. 

One of the reasons that my husband and I encouraged our kids to do some sort of civil service was to let them know that life is about something bigger than self.  We live in a society where selfies are everywhere.  When I scroll through social media, a lot of what I see is selfie after selfie.  While I am not opposed to the occasional selfie, I often cringe.  I have an acquaintance who calls them, “Narcissisties.”  Again, I took a few selfies when I was blessed to be in the Alps.  It was awesome.  However, how do we really balance this need to take pictures of self or magnify the self?  We do that by serving others.  Now, the military is not for everyone obviously.. but what can we do to help others?  To be of service to others? To edify others?  That starts with the decision to realize that there are a lot of folks out there who need just one simple act of kindness.  One prayer. One, “God Bless Your Day.” One act of just listening.  I am a talker.  Those that know me would gasp in horror…. Not really!  My husband reminds me often that I have two ears and one mouth.  I should listen more.  It is true.  Just the act of listening to someone can take a weight off of the shoulders of another.  I have worked with seniors for about fifteen years.  It is one of my joys and callings in life.  Did you know that it highlights some of these sweet little old folk’s life to just listen to them talk about their grandchildren?  While self care is important, serving others is also right up there in importance.  Did you know in some countries civil service is encouraged to take the primary focus off of self? In this world of selfies and, “Me! Me! Me!” What can we do to bring it to, “Build each other up?” Growing up in the belly of the south, one of the first scriptures I can remember is when the disciples asked Jesus what was the greatest commandment.  He commented quite succinctly that it was to “Love God with all your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself.  If that is true then well, it should be pretty easy to build others up, right?  I will leave you all with this.  I am moved to tears quite often that our children are pretty great.  Even greater still is that five of them realized that it was important to serve a greater purpose than self.  I often think of those brave ones in WWII who risked their lives to be part of the bigger picture.  We live in a time and place where that is not necessarily our greatest risk.  We have our heroes in uniform of whom I am so very, very glad to be called a military mom.  What can we do? How can we serve? How can we make a difference?  I would wager it starts looking prayerfully outward.  That focus will inevitably bring your perspective back to the inward blessing of knowing that you have blessed someone else.  I leave you dear readers with a quote from Albert Einstein: “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”