Today, I will greet the day with a smile
so that I may open the door for happiness,
friendship, and love to enter.
I received a call from a new acquaintance in our Purpose Driven Life Seminar and she sounded really sad and lonely. She had just separated from her husband and was still trying to cope with it. She needed someone to talk to so I listened while she cried her heart out.
When I put the phone down, I felt good. I've been doing this many times but for close friends and people I work with and it felt good too but this kind of feeling was entirely different. I realized that when we lend a sympathetic ear to someone who is in trouble especially when she/he is not close to you or when we pray for another person's health, happiness and prosperity, we feel a wonderful sense of belonging and being a part of the human race.
It is only through loving others that we can begin to love ourselves. Learning to give of ourselves unconditionally to another human being can be a healing and self-nurturing experience.
When we are faced with the challenge of life's daily trials, we must seek out unselfishness. As we develop this behavior, we will soon realize that it is in our thoughtlessness of ourselves and our thoughtfulness of others that we are able to have a greater understanding of what love, peace, joy and happiness really mean.
