“If you want to be happy for one hour, go watch television. If you want to be happy for one day, go to an amusement park. If you want to be happy for a lifetime, go serve others,” author unknown. A lifetime? A lifetime of service to others? From my experience, the people who live a life in service to others are most joyful. Happy people, joyful people, care about the people around them and spend their time and resources serving.
As humans, we desire to be served. We do almost everything to better ourselves and make ourselves excel and succeed. Sometimes we even serve others to benefit ourselves. We pick up trash so that we can maybe write it on a résumé. We go to college so that some day we can serve ourselves with our degree. With this degree, we will be able to make more money to buy the car we want, the house we want, the life we want.
Putting service to others above self is a radical way of thinking and it is different thinking than most of the world. Think about the fish who swim upstream against the current. There are many different currents they could choose to take. The American current is shouting out: more for me, serve myself, more for me! Most of the salmon take this current, because it is easy. Am I strong enough to swim against the American Dream and embrace a different current that says: it is not all about me? It is not all about me! Am I willing to think differently and put service above self? My resounding answer is yes!
If you want to be a good leader, then serve. If you want to be different, then serve. Do not serve just so you look good. Do not serve for your own glory. Serve from your heart! Have a heart that is willing to give your life to others. Service above self is serving others even when times are hard and not pleasant. It is doing the dirty work when no one else wants.
A lifetime of service? Is this possible? As I was reading in my mother’s journal I found this quote by an unknown author, “It is the things we always hold that we will lose someday. The only things we ever keep are what we give away.” Serving others is a day-to-day, moment-by-moment decision that a person makes each morning when they wake up. Serving is possible, and it is how I want to spend the rest of my life. This is where true joy is found.
As humans, we desire to be served. We do almost everything to better ourselves and make ourselves excel and succeed. Sometimes we even serve others to benefit ourselves. We pick up trash so that we can maybe write it on a résumé. We go to college so that some day we can serve ourselves with our degree. With this degree, we will be able to make more money to buy the car we want, the house we want, the life we want.
Putting service to others above self is a radical way of thinking and it is different thinking than most of the world. Think about the fish who swim upstream against the current. There are many different currents they could choose to take. The American current is shouting out: more for me, serve myself, more for me! Most of the salmon take this current, because it is easy. Am I strong enough to swim against the American Dream and embrace a different current that says: it is not all about me? It is not all about me! Am I willing to think differently and put service above self? My resounding answer is yes!
If you want to be a good leader, then serve. If you want to be different, then serve. Do not serve just so you look good. Do not serve for your own glory. Serve from your heart! Have a heart that is willing to give your life to others. Service above self is serving others even when times are hard and not pleasant. It is doing the dirty work when no one else wants.
A lifetime of service? Is this possible? As I was reading in my mother’s journal I found this quote by an unknown author, “It is the things we always hold that we will lose someday. The only things we ever keep are what we give away.” Serving others is a day-to-day, moment-by-moment decision that a person makes each morning when they wake up. Serving is possible, and it is how I want to spend the rest of my life. This is where true joy is found.
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