First of all I want to express appreciation for those who are reading this newsletter. If you are stopping to read this it is because you are struggling with something and you are looking for answers, and as we often do, we look to others for wisdom. There is nothing wrong with this approach, in fact, that is how communities are built in this ongoing exchange of what is valuable in life. We do this exchange of giving and receiving in ways in which we overtly keep track of, and also we do it in other more subtle ways, in our everyday living. This is how we create bonds but also how we carry each other through difficult times.
Even though we might search for where we can find an answer when we are experiencing a challenge, we can forget that when we extend a hand to others it is often how we ourselves can find the answer we are looking for. This is because it is in the giving and in the receiving that an opening occurs. There is an openness to receive on the part of the seeker, and there is an openness necessary in the giving. When we give we have to find ourselves, we have to find the place of ours that is whole from which we can give, and so often we find wholeness in the giving.
There was once a man who worked in a shoe store and everybody in town came to him because he was very knowledgeable, everybody wanted their shoes to last longer. But while he worked very seriously on his craft, he could never quite appreciate and know the levels in which the town appreciated him. One day the man decided to move closer to his family and to his surprise, when people in the town found out they came to him and asked him to stay. “How are we going to find someone to fix our shoes?” The man looked at them in confusion, and said “but there are others in this town who fix shoes.” And they said “but nobody does it like you. Nobody has this love in what they do, to see, as you do, the levels of detail in your work, how much you care not only for the shoes but for those wearing them.”
The man was very moved because he thought it was just his little way of doing things, his quirkiness, and he never really considered it was special. He realized as he was listening to people telling him how much they appreciated him that although he had thought he had lived a small and inconsequential life, he in reality had a very meaningful life. As he was listening to others appreciate what he gave, he became deeply aware of his own presence of love when working on his craft and serving his clients. He suddenly understood how to be in that presence.
So I’m telling this story because many of you sometimes discount something that really brings you to a place of wholeness because it is not something that you perceive as valuable to others. It could be something as small to you as your laugh, or your presence as you look at someone with compassion and take their hand. Our minds are so conditioned to the rules of our culture that we discount and make lists of what is valuable and what should be valued for and what is not important. But believe me when I tell you, at the end we realize what is important.
Even though we might search for where we can find an answer when we are experiencing a challenge, we can forget that when we extend a hand to others it is often how we ourselves can find the answer we are looking for. This is because it is in the giving and in the receiving that an opening occurs. There is an openness to receive on the part of the seeker, and there is an openness necessary in the giving. When we give we have to find ourselves, we have to find the place of ours that is whole from which we can give, and so often we find wholeness in the giving.
There was once a man who worked in a shoe store and everybody in town came to him because he was very knowledgeable, everybody wanted their shoes to last longer. But while he worked very seriously on his craft, he could never quite appreciate and know the levels in which the town appreciated him. One day the man decided to move closer to his family and to his surprise, when people in the town found out they came to him and asked him to stay. “How are we going to find someone to fix our shoes?” The man looked at them in confusion, and said “but there are others in this town who fix shoes.” And they said “but nobody does it like you. Nobody has this love in what they do, to see, as you do, the levels of detail in your work, how much you care not only for the shoes but for those wearing them.”
The man was very moved because he thought it was just his little way of doing things, his quirkiness, and he never really considered it was special. He realized as he was listening to people telling him how much they appreciated him that although he had thought he had lived a small and inconsequential life, he in reality had a very meaningful life. As he was listening to others appreciate what he gave, he became deeply aware of his own presence of love when working on his craft and serving his clients. He suddenly understood how to be in that presence.
So I’m telling this story because many of you sometimes discount something that really brings you to a place of wholeness because it is not something that you perceive as valuable to others. It could be something as small to you as your laugh, or your presence as you look at someone with compassion and take their hand. Our minds are so conditioned to the rules of our culture that we discount and make lists of what is valuable and what should be valued for and what is not important. But believe me when I tell you, at the end we realize what is important.
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