MAYBE NOT?
I realize it sounds impractical, doubtful and even impossible to many people, but I
still find that what we do for others is often more important than what we do for ourselves.
Much of what you do is done without the realization that you are thinking more of
others than yourself.
If you are a young man, let’s say, fresh out of college halls of learning and seeking a
job in keeping with your training, eager, ambitious and all that you met with in college
days. Several surprises await you in the real world, of course. Among them is the fact that
you will be called upon to choose a lifetime field of employment. You must make
judgments based, not just on the amounts of money the job will bring in and how soon.
You will be, I’ll bet, imagining times just ahead in which you can marry that special girl;
have children and be the one who steadily brings home the bacon in abundance and
working to keep the home fire burning in traditional ways. You will be working for
individuals and groups who do not even exist now, perhaps. Or, you may take the job
thinking of it as an opportunity for you to repay some of the small fortune your parents or
family members spent on your college years. They have been working on your behalf for
many years. Much of what they both did over the years often truncating their own
enjoyments, hobbies, avocations - with our well-being in mind. You can’t just turn your
back on them, although it does happen in hundreds of cases almost daily, I’m sure.
You will be better off if you are doing a job you like, too. So many individuals
condemn themselves to so many years of servitude after which they plan to “take it
easy” and “enjoy living.” It is important that your family respects what you do for a living,
too. This is often a difficult thing to comprehend, when one is young and filled with a zest
for living at higher and higher levels of showy prosperity, and even difficult to understand
when one grows older and it appears that you may have to give something up in order to
work for others. The time will arrive, however, when you see others doing so and you realize
for the first time that you have been doing some of it yourself unknowingly for years.
You are working for others when you create with your hands, mind, guidance and
spiritual influence upon those around you. It is not a matter of physically establishing your
presence among them. Many help from afar and do a commendable job Some like to do
their helping quietly and modestly.
Have you every wondered why people wait until they are dead before the share
their wealth? If you have good fortune, share it with family and friends while you live. Why
deprive yourself of the joy of giving, of sharing, or helping others?
It’s a natural thing to want to do.
A.L.M. July 25, 2002 [c518wds]
