Today's
Meditation:
These
are three dirty words for some people:
responsibility, obligation, and duty. After all, who
wants to deal with these words when there are such nice
words right there with them: right, opportunity, and
possession? The first three demand something of us,
while the last three give something to us.
One
of the most important measures of character, though, is
the way that we deal with our rights and
responsibilities. Do we take our rights for granted
and shirk our responsibilities? If we do, then we
can be sure that we're not fulfilling our purpose here on
this planet, for in that case we'd be giving nothing at
all to our fellow human beings. If on the other hand
we appreciate our rights and live up to our
responsibilities, then we can be sure that we're at least
approaching the fulfillment of our purpose here on this
planet. For then we'll be giving to others in the
best ways that we know how.
We
don't get or take in this life without being asked--and
rightly so--to give something back. And it's in the
giving that we see who we truly are, and what we truly
believe in. We can truly see the measure of the
person in the balance that he or she strikes between
taking and giving back, though the two may be in
completely different areas. One may receive tons of
money, yet give back with time or energy to different
causes, and that's fine. The worst we can do is
forget that what we receive does imply that we need to
give something back, somewhere, anywhere.
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Questions to
consider:
What kind of balance do you strike between giving and
getting?
Why do some people tend to avoid fulfilling
responsibilities and obligations?
Why is there such a relationship between rights and
responsibilities, opportunities and obligations? |