The idea I'm about to share with you can bring you the greatest hope. It can bring you happiness beyond anything you've ever dreamed. It can present to you the quality and quantity of life that may seem like only something that always goes to others. Brace yourself; a band of gypsies would pay to hear this.
The Magnificent Obsession!
No matter who you are, no matter what you have been, no matter what you have done in your past, you can develop a magnificent obsession for something that can change your world and the world you live in.
The principle of this obsession is so simple that the people who could benefit the most may not see it at all. That's because those people are expecting something hard. After all, it has to be hard if it is to be of value is a prevalent attitude in this country.
Here is the simplicity of it. Develop a magnificent obsession for helping other people without expecting anything in return. And then, make sure no one else knows it was you that did it. No payment, no reward, no recognition expectations on your part.
I can just hear somebody now saying, "Vegas, you are just a few grapes short of a fruit salad". :>) Not really. Here's why. You will set in motion an inexorable law that says no matter how hard you try to avoid compensation, reward, payment, or recognition, a reward will be showered on you.
After My Own Heart!
Every living person can do something to help others. We all have the ability to create an insatiable desire to help others. You may not be wealthy, but money is really the lowest form of power in helping others. You know what the highest form is? Love.
The willingness to share yourself for someone else is the highest form of power and help you can offer. The willingness to share a talent, a skill, an experience for the welfare and benefit of another, from an attitude of love, will bring rewards unsearchable in this life.
Think about this: Long after the money is gone from a good deed, the love will remain. Maybe that's one reason some relationships stay together after a financial crisis. People may forget after the money is spent, but the act of love and kindness, the sharing of oneself will never be forgotten.
Silver And Gold Have I None, But Such As I Have I Give Thee!
Your most preciously valued possessions and abilities are often things that are invisible. They are things that only you have and only you can share with a hurting world. The more you share of yourself, the more you will have in return. It's a law; you can't stop it from working no matter how hard you try.
I heard the story of John D. Rockefeller and how he started the March of Dimes foundation. John D. was dying of stomach ulcers at a very early age. He couldn't eat anything but mild baby food. He decided that if his life was going to end so early, he wanted to do something he had never done.
A Golden Opportunity Comes Once In A Lifetime!
So he proceeded to give away everything he had. He was trying to give it all away before he died, but ironically, the more he gave the more that came back to him. It was coming back faster than he could give it away. And the clock of death was still ticking.
John D. got so caught up in what he was doing that his ulcers disappeared. And, at over ninety years old he laid one mile of his own dimes end-on-end down a street in New York, and that started the March of Dimes Foundation.
All That Glitters Is Not Gold!
Now, I realize you may not have John D's assets. But, if you doubt this you can prove it to yourself by giving a smile to every one you meet today. Give a pleasant word, a kind gesture and watch what happens.
If you do this, you will discover something about yourself: that it is very difficult to create desirable actions within yourself . . . Do this and you will discover that what you have left after you share it with someone will grow and increase. And, what you have left after you withhold it from someone will decrease and diminish.
Now, here is what happens when things start leaving our possession. It really doesn't matter if they are tangible or intangible. Any time we experience something going away that we've had for awhile we feel rejected and deprived.
Just Gets My Goat!
Then we try to stop the flow outward, assuming it was something tangible, which just translates into protecting and withholding what we have left. And, the more we guard over the things we're trying to protect, the more we see them decrease.
On the other side, when we start looking for ways to show our appreciation for what we have left, the more the increase starts coming back. This is primarily the reason that human nature goes exactly opposite the laws of the universe. Even common sense says if something is flowing out, then we are diminishing. If something is coming in, then we are increasing.
Every fiber of our being starts screaming, "Dam up the flow." Stop the outflow, when the whole design of the universe was to return "after" we give. Give a frown, get a frown. Give a smile, get a smile.
A Blessing In Disguise! So even though we, by nature, do all we can to stop the outgo, nevertheless, it is the universe's way of bringing back to us. I know it sounds crazy—don't look at me like that; I don't like it either.
Now, no matter how serious the loss, it takes a magnificent obsession to look for a way to continue giving that which is desirable and withholding that which is undesirable. Human nature just says, eye for eye, tooth for tooth.
You may have lost the dearest possession that God has ever given you. And, if so, I am sure that you now have an empathy and compassion, with a much clearer understanding, of the problems of others in that same situation.
More Power To You!
You are in a perfect position to use your empathy to reach out to someone else and share what you've learned. That's when the power of your magnificent obsession goes into gear, and return and increase come showering back.
©2003, Richard Vegas
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