Lately, I am completely in awe and filled with love for all of the good people that surround me. They work regular jobs, eat regular food, and have regular families. They appear to be just “average joes” by the standards of the world.
Want to know a secret? They are anything BUT regular.
How, then, do we recognize these individuals who are secretly going about DOING good and serving without the expectation of anything in return? Just take a minute and look upon their hearts. Do they have challenges like everyone else? Most likely. It seems to be a common factor that isn’t preferential to race, religion, gender, or even wealth.
So what’s the difference!?
As agreed upon, struggles happen to all of us lucky humans traversing through this life. The factor that changes things, that separates the regular from the extraordinary, is SERVICE. These “regular” people do what they can to ease the burdens of others. For real…they exist! I’ve seen it in action!
It is so easy to be miserable while pondering the way circumstances played out in the past, or even in present difficulties. Life is hard. It is taxing on our spirits. But a little thing called service can reverse your perspective. It comes from love. When we take time to look outside ourselves and help someone who is also having a hard time, we will discover help. We will discover relief. We will discover that we are more capable of enduring through our own struggles.
That is where true happiness and peace grows from.
The love of Christ can heal all bitter heartaches if we will but take the time to share it. I am talking about something that transcends beyond religion. It doesn’t matter if you are Catholic, Mormon, Evangelical, or whatever else. We can all learn from the way that Jesus Christ lived his life.
His ability to look beyond the exterior of the people around him and view the beauty of their hearts allowed pure love and compassion and kindness. Service came easy for him and was so quickly shared because he wasn’t out there looking for their problems or whether they had the most fashionable outfits of the season. He knew that everyone was having hardships and trials, so he shared love despite their number of friends or how many sins they had committed.
This is where we learn service.
You can give money to organizations all day long, but if your heart is in the wrong place (i.e. giving for a tax break or to make sure that everyone around you thinks you are super awesome and kind with your wealth) you are missing the boat. Not a Noah’s Ark pun, but now that I think about it… 🙂
Life can suck. No matter what you look like, or whether you are rich or poor. You can experience loneliness, depression, heartbreak, death, sadness, loss of a job, or so many other things. But what makes the difference is how you choose to react and treat the people around you.
What triggered this post? My angel friend who is fighting cancer, Jen Thorpe.
I showed up to an event at their neighbor’s house so that we could prepare for a big fundraiser in her behalf. You know what I found? People from all walks of life, with massive trials and sucky days of their own. But they still came. They still lifted where they stood, and helped carry the load of this battle for my darling friend.
I want you to see the power that you have in service. As we help one another fight their struggles and do what we can, it will be noticed. I am in awe because I have seen these literal angels in person, and it was the most beautiful sight of my life. I hope you get to see this around you in the simple acts of good that people are secretly going about doing.
XO – Heather
Learn more about Jen and her battle:
Jennifer Thorpe Leaves a Legacy of Love
Just a Break – Jen’s Inspired Non-Profit Organization – Find out how you can help lift a few burdens here <3
