Self-Service
How many of you accept fully, with grace, faith and trust the incarnation you have chosen? The path of service you are on? At a recent book signing I met a woman whose gift of service (in my interpretation) touched me magically, just as mine touched hers (so she told me). In addition to working full-time, she is the mother of two teenagers and a severely disable adolescent. All of her kids were with her, but it was the youngest, whom she glided up to my table in her specially made stroller that I observed appeared much like an angel, gently lulling herself to sleep. This mom and I exchanged a few words, not least how we both had lost our children in different ways and at different times (hers at birth). That is when we acknowledged the different service we have undertaken and how our daughters each have contributed to our own powerful spiritual transformation in ways that can be hard to understand, unless you’ve gone through similar loss. I told this special lady that I didn’t know if I could do what she is doing. She told me she didn’t know if she could do what I was doing. Then we both laughed and agreed we’re essentially doing the same thing, just in a different way. That is, coping with tragic loss.
That exchange moved me to think a lot about the types of service we agree to perform in our incarnation, though many people don’t know they have taken on a role of service through the experiences they endure and the commitment that is required to stay the course. That is why so many events appear as challenges and difficulties. When we understand the reason for the experience, we no longer have to make it difficult. If we know our purpose it can be both a blessing and a disadvantage. A blessing in that we no longer need to search for what we feel strongly we are meant to do; a disadvantage because of the sometimes arduous path we know we must travel to fulfill the blessed purpose.
The act of self-service is when we recognize and honour the path we are on at all times and give to ourselves exactly what we feel compelled to give to others. It is not necessary to compare our journey to any else’s because we simply accept and trust that we can and will graciously fulfill the tasks put before us with a sense of sometimes awe and content. I am learning to honour daily my gifts and the commitment I have made to the path I have chosen. For those of you that have connected to your purpose, whatever this is and no matter that it may change over time (though I believe we come to the planet to fulfill at minimum one major purpose that we often must grow into), I encourage you to turn inward and regularly give props to yourself for the job you are doing. As we touch the lives of others we touch our own. Recognizing this is one of the greatest forms of self-service in every way. It is not selfish to honour, love, cherish and reward yourself with all the same love, comfort, patience, understanding, compassion, sensitivity and gifts that are ours alone to share with others.
My heart to yours,
Vonne
