Blog112:
What makes us push ourselves
to do small and big things? When life
could be easy and simple, why do we aspire to go or do beyond?
To a few, pushing one’s self
to a nobler extreme is plain crazy. That
may hold water indeed. Transcending …
rising above ordinary existence, however, is an extraordinary desire of the
human spirit. It affirms our humanity.
We want validation. Once we’ve proven to a small group, to a
bigger crowd, our peers and our collegial circles that we’re capable of the
tasks put upon us, it is hard to remain stagnant at what we do best. We aspire to accomplish more challenging, and
complex tasks because we want to self - endorse that we could rise higher or
improve on what we already know to do very well. Going beyond gives us the impetus to improve
on personal skills, expand stale, existing projects, and create new things out
of something that’s out there. When we
act on our desire to make something new from the old, we gratify ourselves and
confirm that we are far knowledgeable, better
at doing something from what we did yesterday, and ever ready to try what something,
someplace had not been touched or discovered.
We want to lift up others who
could not do otherwise. Even when we are
physically or mentally tired, many of us manage to get out there to donate our
time and talent. No matter what the
cause … a charitable act always brings a rewarding experience besides collecting
material things. Taking time to
empathize with someone, friend or stranger surely reminds us of our bond with
one another. It takes very little time
to be ‘there’ for someone who needs our shoulder to cry on or our listening ear. It doesn’t take lots of energy to simply be a
sounding board for one in emotional distress.
An intentional phone call, an email, a visit to someone we know is alone
and could use our company, our voice, our presence is never
time-consuming. Taking a bowl of chicken
soup to someone who’s ill, raking leaves for someone physically disabled to do
ordinary chores, driving someone to a hospital for a check-up or spending an
hour or so with a struggling school child are acts of kindness that also give back great feelings of
accomplishment.
We want our life to matter. We hope that our mortal life is spent on all
possible promises and opportunities we are granted. We want to be the best we could be as construction
worker, lawyer, homemaker, parent, student, friend, clergy, runner, caretaker
or whatever our walk in life. While we
could not be excellent at every role we take and attempt in life, we want to
know that our life has and will always have meaning for everyone we meet along
our path and those away from around us.
We hope that our little contribution to the making of a product, guiding
and molding one’s education, volunteering at a soup kitchen, cleaning up
messes, taking care of our co-creatures, protecting our environment, finding a
cure, problem solving, is executed in the best possible of ways we are able to act
upon.
Rising to act on someone’s
need whatever occasion and time makes us whole.
Always putting our best step forward on a task brings out the excellence
in each of us. Striving to be the best
we could possibly be is our mortality’s mandate. All perfect us and fulfill the graces of our
lives.
Don’t be shy! Go forward, and claim the gifts you have, and
the graces that you freely give and receive!
