The Guided Decision: Learning to Serve Others
June 2nd
Affirmation: I am at the right place at the right time doing the right thing.Cultivate Self-compassion.
Andy Andrews(pp 41-43)
In addition to reading books and taking the council of wiser friends, the third way to chart a course toward wisdom is by serving others – find a way to help another human being. This doesn’t mean you have to do something grandiose or even something you consider incredibly useful. Serving others could be opening a door for someone. Carry their luggage, pour their coffee, hold their chair. By serving others, we value them, and this increases our own value.
Perhaps not coincidentally, when we serve others, we increased the possibility that they would share their wisdom with us. When billionaire and shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis was in his last years, a reporter asked, “if you lost all your money, what would you do to gain it back?”
Perhaps not coincidentally, when we serve others, we increased the possibility that they would share their wisdom with us. When billionaire and shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis was in his last years, a reporter asked, “if you lost all your money, what would you do to gain it back?”
He replied, “well it would be a process, of course. But the first step in the process of gaining a fortune, I would consider, to be serving others.”
The reporter just dropped his jaw and exclaimed, “what do you mean serving others? I thought people served you!”
The reporter just dropped his jaw and exclaimed, “what do you mean serving others? I thought people served you!”
A wise man will cultivate a servant spirit. For that particular attribute attracts people.He said, people serve me, but it is only because throughout my life, I’ve served others. You ask, “how would you create a fortune? And the first step would be to serve others. I would put myself in a position, by serving others, to be around people who could help me, guide me, and share their wisdom and experience with me.”
Then he added: “I would get a job, maybe two, maybe three. I would save my money. I would live as simply as I possibly could, and when I’ve saved up $500, I’d go eat in the restaurant that cost $500 for a meal. Then I would work more, live simply save my money until I saved $500, and I’d go eat again in a restaurant that cost $500.
The reporter was beside himself at this point and replied “I’m really not getting this. You’re trying to create a fortune, yet you’re blowing $500 on a dinner?”
Onassis replied, “it has nothing to do with the food I eat, but the associations I create. You see to get where I’d want to be, I would need the wisdom and relationships with the people who eat regularly in expensive restaurants. And so, when I go into the restaurant, I make eye contact, introduce myself, shake hands. As I enter, I say hello. As I leave, I say goodbye. Somewhere down the road, I’m going to run into those people who I will say, “oh yes I saw you in…” Or “oh you’re the man at the next table when we eat at…”
He concluded, “it all has to do with the associations you create with the people whom you are around. People will want to help you because you were there to hold a chair or hold the door for them.”——-What can you do to begin or continue cultivating a servants spirit? Can you volunteer at your local church or community center? Can you visit the elderly at your local hospital?
Can you spend more time with your family? Can you schedule a call to a family member just to make him or her smile? Can you commit random acts of kindness, such as paying the toll for the car behind you? Brainstorm a list of ideas and commit to doing at least one in the next five days.
Then he added: “I would get a job, maybe two, maybe three. I would save my money. I would live as simply as I possibly could, and when I’ve saved up $500, I’d go eat in the restaurant that cost $500 for a meal. Then I would work more, live simply save my money until I saved $500, and I’d go eat again in a restaurant that cost $500.
The reporter was beside himself at this point and replied “I’m really not getting this. You’re trying to create a fortune, yet you’re blowing $500 on a dinner?”
Onassis replied, “it has nothing to do with the food I eat, but the associations I create. You see to get where I’d want to be, I would need the wisdom and relationships with the people who eat regularly in expensive restaurants. And so, when I go into the restaurant, I make eye contact, introduce myself, shake hands. As I enter, I say hello. As I leave, I say goodbye. Somewhere down the road, I’m going to run into those people who I will say, “oh yes I saw you in…” Or “oh you’re the man at the next table when we eat at…”
He concluded, “it all has to do with the associations you create with the people whom you are around. People will want to help you because you were there to hold a chair or hold the door for them.”——-What can you do to begin or continue cultivating a servants spirit? Can you volunteer at your local church or community center? Can you visit the elderly at your local hospital?
Can you spend more time with your family? Can you schedule a call to a family member just to make him or her smile? Can you commit random acts of kindness, such as paying the toll for the car behind you? Brainstorm a list of ideas and commit to doing at least one in the next five days.
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