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Today's
Meditation:
Where do we get the idea
that what we do is more important than who we are?
Could it come from the fact that we live in a culture in
which people idolize other people just because they're on
TV or in movies, football players or baseball players,
famous or well-known? Could it be because people in
our society tend to value those jobs that pay really well
over the jobs that don't?
One of the most important things that I've learned to do
over the years has been quite simple but not al that easy
to do: to value myself based on how I treat other
people and what I do to help other people rather than on
what job I do or how much I'm paid. Let's face
it--few of us are paid what we're really worth, and the
very wealthy among us often are paid much, much more than
they're really worth. In other words, money is
rarely an accurate indicator of just how
"worthwhile" we actually are.
What we do is usually referred to in terms of our jobs or
professions. Sometimes we talk about mistakes we've
made or problems we've had as "what we
do." But we can refer to who we are as
loving, caring, compassionate, forgiving, hopeful,
positive, giving, and so many other things. If we're
in a down time, we may be pessimistic or negative or
demanding or unsympathetic, but we always have the choice
to change those terms, even if we don't change what we do
at all.
We can do almost any job in the world and still maintain our
inner peace and still get a great deal of satisfaction
from it, for the peace and satisfaction are more a result
of our attitudes than they are of the jobs
themselves. You are worthwhile. I am
worthwhile. All we have to do is believe this truth
for our lives to become more fulfilling and
enjoyable. And as we come to believe it more and
more, our actions will become more and more reflective of
the true worth that abides in us all. Let's allow
that worth to rise to the surface rather than keeping it
deep inside of ourselves.
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For further
thought:
You can sing
only what you are. You can paint only what you
are. You must be what your
experiences, your environment, and your heredity have made
you. For better
or for worse, you must cultivate your own little
garden. For better or for worse,
you must play your own little instrument in the orchestra of
life.
Dale Carnegie |
