Service – Day 3
June 20, 2018
When we’re wrapped up in what others need, we may lose our self-esteem and our sense of what we need. Remember, genuine thoughtful service always respects both the giver and the receiver.
There’s a danger of serving in ways that don’t help, ways that foster other people’s dependency on us, and ways that diminish others’ ability to take responsibility for themselves. There’s also a danger of hiding behind service, using our helpfulness and concern with others to avoid taking responsibility for our own lives.
It’s difficult not to use service as a means to selfish ends. By serving, we get a life. We open up the gateway to receiving more and more ourselves. But if we start focusing only on what we’re getting by giving, the entire circle collapses.
Service isn’t a way to manipulate God or other people into giving us what we want. Service is a value to be cherished for its own sake.
Challenge: Sometimes the easiest thing to give is our money, and the hardest thing to give is ourselves.
From the book: 52 Weeks of Conscious Contact
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About the author
In addiction and recovery circles, Melody Beattie is a household name. She is the best-selling author of numerous books.
One of Melody's more recent titles is The Grief Club, which was published in 2006. This inspirational book gives the reader an inside look at the miraculous phenomenon that occurs after loss--the being welcomed into a new "club" of sorts, a circle of people who have lived through similar grief and pain, whether it be the loss of a child, a spouse, a career, or even one's youth.
For more information about Melody and her books, visit the author's official website