If you had all the money in the World . . .
Oooh I am tired! I have been working flat-out for several months now and it is beginning to take its toll. Recently I have been responding to the question “How are you?” with something like “I am fine thanks, (good even) but I am tired ‘to my soul’. This, however, is not quite true. I am tired physically and mentally but actually my soul, my spirit if you will, is not tired. I do not know that it ever can be. My spirit is actually the element of my being that is providing the motivation and energy to meet more people, to write more words, to travel more miles, to start a new business, to find more ways to help others. Would I appreciate a week on a beach with a couple of good books? Oh yes, absolutely! Could I use some help myself with the increasing workload? Yes, too. Would I change what I am doing if there was an “easier” option, a job that paid the bills but failed to ignite my spirit? No! Absolutely not. This is what I am here to do. This is MY dharma.
How can I be so sure of this? Well, by honestly answering one simple but profound question that Dr Chopra asks, and theat is
“If you had all the money in the World, what would you do?”
He says that if you would still do what you are doing then you are “in dharma” because you are expressing your unique talent, finding how best to use this talent to serve humanity and seeking your divinity. As usual, he offers guidelines for me (us) to use in applying this Law of dharma.
Firstly, to spend time in silence (30 mins twice a day) just to listen. Do nothing, just listen. This may seem like time “wasted” in our hurly-burly, stress-driven, material, consumerist world of “modern” living but actually it is not wasted – it is an investment. An investment in yourself. I think that there are ways that we can all fit in this contemplative time to do nothing, after all, the only two things that are completely inexhaustible in our Universe are time and space – we can never run out of them so a simple re-scheduling and a commitment “to try” will probably allow us to re-priortise in some way so that genuine quiet-time can be found.
Secondly, he suggests spending time to list our unique talents and to spend time in finding ways to use these talents for the service of others. I know that I do this and I know that when I am deploying these talents, that time (and my spirit) flies.
Thirdly, continually ask “how can I serve?”. I hope with all sincerity that this book goes some way to delivering this. My businesses are all based around my helping others to grow and develop. My volunteer work is focussed on the same.
Is that it then? Is that all there is? I think so.
I have been distracted recently by the mundane activities and pressures of the material world – I have even considered changing my path and my plans but I know in my heart of hearts that this is what I am supposed to do. To find my ‘higher’ self, (to reach my full potential), to communicate this to others and to help them on their own journey if at all possible and to serve. I know this to be true because every time that I sit to write, or conduct a mentoring session, or complete a talk/presentation of ethical business and values, or any of the myriad of ways that I try to help others to live better, more fulfilled and balanced lives, that I feel the most alive. This is when I shine (or so I have been told). As to whether this will deliver my own abundance and unlimited wealth, only time will tell but I can report one thing with absolute confidence – when I am doing these things that I love doing and am doing them for others, I FEEL like I am in dharma and that may be as close as it gets to knowing. I have a passion to reach my potential. I do not know what it will feel like when I do or whether it is, in fact, even possible, but this journey is the start, if not the end, of my quest.
There is no real end to this journey – merely the completion of stages. A Tour de France without the yellow jersey or the finishing line. I, like us all, am a work in progress, a seeker searching, a project yet to be completed. As my life moves on and my travels and travails take me to places yet unknown my path will always be clear to me; find time to listen, develop and deliver my talents and do what I love doing in the service of others and you never know, one day I may even get paid for it!
In love and service.
PF
