It’s not about me. It’s about other people and my service to them. This is deeply fundamental.
I experienced this yesterday as had to take care of my 3 healthy children as my wife and eldest child (often the caretaker) were ill with a nasty strain of the flu. Instead of going surfing like I normally do at the beach, I got to sit on the beach with the 2 younger ones while the eldest went surfing.
This is what my wife normally does, and so I got a good dose of empathy for her. This was also preceded by a dose of sickness empathy, as I got the same flu five days earlier.
This taste of servitude is significant, and I admit I took it on a bit begrudgingly. But my ability to see the lesson here—and learn accordingly from it—is only hampered by my intent and attitude to change. Nothing else stands in the way, and so the opportunity to change is mine to lose.
As I sit here and consider what it means to change—and I mean real change—I think about it coming from within first. Not just an idea or a well-intended feeling, but a resolution and adjustment to the self. A firmware upgrade to the soul, the principals, the philosophy within.
And so I set down one of my goals of 2010 (this is different from The 3 Words) as: me<others. This means:
- To consider the welfare and well-being of other people before myself.
- To not indulge in my work selfishly and disguise it as either false noble or obligatory activity (example: I’m working to save humanity but really all I’m doing is indulging in my hobby).
- To make sacrifices that have meaningful results for others.
Gotta go now and practice some preaching!