Category: Making A Difference

Start by taking care of yourself—physically, mentally, emotionally…

Everything after this step is counterproductive if this first step isn’t done right.

If it is done right, then, focus on taking care of your environment… physically, aesthetically, organizationally…

These first two steps are intimately intertwined. As the saying goes, don’t go complaining about the world until your own house is in order. Systemize your chores. Tend to your gardens. Repair what’s broken. This will elevate who you attract back into your life which will further compliment self-care. Only after this is done right, should you extend your efforts further.

Continue by taking care of your family (by birth or choice)… seek to help them physically, mentally, emotionally… these are the closest people to you in your life and rightfully, should get the majority of your energy and focus. Add value. Offer gifts. Share experiences. Proceed to the next wave only after this wave is satisfied.

Next, carry the ripple outward by taking care of your friends, acquaintances, clients, closest community members, further away societal members, worldly neighbors, etc… offer them what value, gifts, and support you can with what’s left over from above.

Jumping to this step while your family suffers or while your house falls into disarray is backwards. First things first. Get the origins of your ripples in order. Initiate all waves from the core of your being and let the power of the ripple be felt proportionally outward from there. To initiate waves from the other side of the world leaves you with only the tiniest of ripples in return.

…Which only reduces the energy you’ll be able to put into the next one (and so on).

Love; kindness; compassion; contribution; and a commitment to goodness and doing what’s right… this is the rent we pay in exchange for being able to live here on earth. It’s how we pay forward the gift we’ve been given of getting to live on a beautiful planet.

Hate; cruelty; heartlessness; greed; and a commitment to wrongdoing and evil… is to completely abuse this gift and is to trash the very house from which we were gifted to live in. It’s to shed yourself of responsibility, disregard anyone who is to come after, and to selfishly waste resources that could otherwise provide and help sustain continued life.

If there’s one thing you should aim to do throughout your life, it’s to leave this space—this beautiful planet—better than you found it. And we do this every time we pay our rent… which is done in every step we take, every decision we make, and every interaction we partake in… be it monthly, weekly, or daily… in how we chose love over hate, kindness over cruelty, compassion over heartlessness, contribution over greed, and goodness over evil.

Rent’s due.

…And for all of our sake—please don’t be late.

Inner Work Prompt: Are you leaving the world better than you found it? What’s one thing you know you need to do a better job of that you want to start improving?

Whether you want to confront the reality or not: you won’t be here much longer to give your gifts yourself.

And while many people focus heavily on taking for themselves: taking educational classes, taking opportunities, taking trips/vacations, etc… it’s the ones who give back what they’ve gained from the things they’ve taken who get to participate in the pay-it-forward ripple effect.

…The one that begins with a selfless act tossed gracefully into the pond of a local community and causes an invisible series of waves that flow outward for as long as the impacted components are inspired in depth.

And if you ever want to have others give gifts to the world on your behalf, your best strategy is to give abundantly to them now.

Now, obviously, it’s hard to give without first having taken what others and the world have offered to give.

…But, it’s simply naive to think others would continue giving on your behalf if you haven’t offered anything back to others and the world from what you’ve taken.

Today, I went to get the next phase of my tattoo done.

At the beginning of the appointment, my tattoo artist said he’d be right back and stepped out of the shop.

A minute later, he came back in and said he had to go back out and help an elderly gentlemen.

And about fifteen minutes after that, he returned with a drenched shirt and several apologies.

He told me he went outside to get a piece of gum and an elderly man asked him for help crossing the street and getting to the convenience store.

So, my tattoo artist obliged—not knowing it would take him as long as it did or that he’d get as wet as he did.

None-the-less, it was a great deed and we had a couple good laughs about it when he returned.

Some people might’ve gotten annoyed by this and complained about the fact that they were made to wait fifteen minutes.

But, what I tried to do was give him an even bigger tip at the end of our session than I think I otherwise would’ve.

Because when you have a chance to be karma—I say take it. Particularly when it comes to rewarding the good deeds people have done. And even better if you can do it anonymously.

I have no doubt that the universe would’ve taken care of him in due time—my tattoo artist is a really good dude. But, if I could’ve expedited the process a little, why not?

…Something maybe you can help us do more of, too?

P.s. 101 Ways you can help us “recalibrate” the world.

I saw a stranger smile the other day and it inspired me to write a poem.

…If this is the impact a stranger could have on me… after .5 seconds… just think about the impact you can have on the lives of those around you after:

• 5 minutes of careful listening.
• 5 hours of cumulative, constructive conversation.
• 5 days of warmth and welcoming to those nervous or shy about starting a brand new journey.
• 5 weeks of accountability as some folks fight to turn task into habit.
• 5 months of consistently great interactions that always result in smiles and growth.
• 5 years of all of it. Careful listening, much needed pep-talks (both given and received), warmth, sweat, smiles, laughs, blood, bruises, tears, pain, joy, excitement, disappointment, determination, grit, perseverance, connection, tension, relaxation, moments of unity, moments of training alone, victory, defeat, lessons, support, accountability, community…

We all spend so much more than .5 seconds with the people around us—exponentially more.

…And yet, all it takes is .5 seconds to make a difference.

The question I pass off to you is: what difference will you make on others with the time they spend with you?