to make you feel proud?

Part of this weeks Master Keys course is to give a gift to every person we encounter without expectation of reciprocity, this could be anything from a simple smile, prayer, service or a material gift. Well….“what is the point in that you might be thinking. That’s just being nice.”

I thought about this and was reminded of the Olympic games which brought so many people together to celebrate achievement, hard work, generosity, and kindness. For two weeks we saw images of smiling faces and people receiving gifts and awards that so many found uplifting and inspiring. Why is it so easy to forget all the love and warmth people were sharing and slip back into the humdrum of our daily living?

So much bombards our senses daily, some of it is positive and uplifting, while some of it is negative and disheartening. It has become obvious to me over recent months that one of the biggest negative influences on human awareness and behaviour lives in our homes. This seemingly innocuous box of tricks, more commonly known as the TV, has become the ruler of so many lives!

• Do you ever schedule things for a certain time so you don’t miss your favourite soap?
• Do you mindlessly pick up products in the supermarket because something in your head told you it would help you look or feel great?
• Do you leave the TV on for comfort when you are alone in the house?
• Do you wake in the morning tired after a restless or disturbed night and wondered why you had such strange dreams?

I have done all these things and suspect millions of others do too. A few months ago I made the decision to stop watching television! At first it felt strange, getting home from work and sitting down with a cup of tea in ‘silence’. My mind kept thinking “Well this is weird, what am I supposed to do now?”  🙂

Hmmmm……I know I’ll read that book that’s been beside my bed for the last 6 months. I’ll finish that job I have been meaning to do. I’ll learn some skills to improve my business. I’ll go and visit a few friends. I’ll……… well….. now the list is endless and I don’t even think about switching the TV on. A new habit has been formed.

Now my mind isn’t cluttered with rubbish, I find I can focus more, and actually really enjoy the stillness. Haanel says in the Master Keys that “it is in the Silence that we can be still, and when we are still, we can think, and thought is the secret to all attainment.” 

It is in this Silence that I am able to focus my thoughts on who I am. I’ve always been the sort of person who will do anything I can to help someone, so promising to bring a ‘gift’ to everyone I encounter has not been completely out of the ordinary. It is in receiving that I have struggled over the years. Some might call it stubbornness, but now I understand it is more to do with not wanting to feel vulnerable. I come from a family of very loving, strong, capable, independent women and so I guess somehow it has become ingrained in me that accepting help means you are weak or vulnerable.

Being still and contemplating this weeks task in silence has heightened my awareness and understanding. Through helping others I feel good about myself, and so by refusing another’s help I deny them the opportunity to feel good and be the person they were created to be.

What have you done today to make you feel proud?