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Service and Wellbeing

Written by: John Toomey

Article Overview: When time is tight and energy levels are low, it is hard to think of the needs of others. When frustrations are high and worry is constant, it feels like we are the ones who need support and help. But we find some magic in the universe when we help others. It is a profound step to reclaiming deliberate control over one's life.

Service and Wellbeing

The Art of Serving

Introduction:
One of the great secrets to happiness and contentment lies in the understanding of Balance. Knowing that everything in the Universe continually strives to achieve a state of Balance, we can accept that whatever hardships we may be enduring, there are good times just around the corner.

Many people seek to find happiness in what they receive in life. Money, gifts, an advantage, special treatment, even fine days and all things we receive that contribute to our happiness. When these things are not apparent and the opposite seems to prevail, sadness and depression appear.

Living in this cycle, having a dependence upon things “turning out right for me” reflects a complete failure to understand balance. It also means that the person lives with a certain degree of fear; fear of unfavorable events that may be just around the corner.

Indeed, a large section of our economy owes its success to this view of life.

Those people who understand balance know that the act of giving is the true source of happiness. They know that under the laws of balance, true giving will result in abundance, peace and goodwill to the giver. They do not fear tomorrow.

The Health Effects:
House and others in Michigan compiled a study of 2754 people over a 12-year period. From that study, the researchers discovered that men who did no form of volunteer work at all, during the study, were two and a half times more likely to die during the study than men who did some form of volunteer work at least once per week.

Several studies since this one have indicated similar results.

Human Needs:
Humans have few needs. Apart from fresh air, clean water, nutritious food and shelter, humans also require the opportunity to both give and receive love, to be an accepted part of a community and, to have a purpose in life.

These last two points, a community and a purpose, are where service fits into the human equation. It is one of our basic needs to be able to make a valid contribution that we can see is needed and useful.

If you think of your life, there are many, many people who need you and who rely on what you do. Your work mates, your customers and perhaps your customers’ customers are reliant on you continuing to do today what you did yesterday and the day before.

Then there is your family and the people in your close community. What do you do that they rely upon?

If you were forced to retire tomorrow, how many people would be effected? Sometimes, our enjoyment of our work is hampered by the fact that we forget how many people we are serving and the net result of our contribution.

Reflect on the roles in your life that make your life challenging, meaningful, rewarding and worthwhile. I would suggest that they all involve a form of service.

Four Independent Areas of Service:
There are four independent areas or classifications of service. They are:

 Serving Yourself
 Serving Others
 Serving Institutions
 Serving the Planet

Serving Yourself is an interesting area. This is not selfish. It involves things like:

 Exercising
 Eating Good Food,
 Receiving a Massage
 Treating Yourself to something nice and rejuvenating
 Getting a little extra sleep when it is needed.
 There are others you will think of

If you do not take time out to do these things, you will become exhausted, injured or unwell. This will then mean that your capacity to serve the other three areas will be limited or negated. Hence, serving yourself is of utmost importance. When was the last time you served yourself?

Serving Others is critical. There are always people out there who need a hand. This doesn’t mean you have to become a problem robber or an over zealous rescuer. It simply means that things need doing so someone must do them. Often, the best way to serve a person is to stand back and allow them to do things for themselves.

Your work involves serving others. Choosing to shop in your local community is a way to serve others. Just about everything you do in your day involves serving others.

Take a moment to think of all the areas in your life where you are serving other people and perhaps making their day just that little bit easier.

Serving Institutions is one area that readily comes to mind when thinking of community service. We are aware of the need to serve charitable institutions. But our workplace is an institution. Our local sports clubs are institutions. There are many that we serve without realising. Our service in these areas is needed and appreciated.

Serving the Planet is one that many have forgotten. Think about the fact that the planet serves us. It provides us with so much of what we need to live our lives. To care for the planet is to serve it. To stand up for environmental issues is to serve the planet. Are you giving the planet more than you receive from it?


Service Without Expectation
This is the real key to quality service. If you serve just because the service is required and for no other reason then your service is true service. If however, there is a motivation behind your service or lack of service, then you need to reflect and adjust. Perhaps you are motivated by:

A positive affirmation of yourself by the person you are serving
Setting up to extract a favor
Hoping that someone will notice what you are doing
Another reason that will give you a pre-determined benefit

Perhaps you choose to not serve someone because you don’t want him/her to feel indebted to you. Perhaps you prevent someone serving you because you will feel a debt to him/her.

Before you serve, check your motives and your inner expectations. Let go of motives and expectations and just do what has to be done. You can find joy in knowing that you were able to do what was needed.

Expectations:
What is expected of You?
What are you expecting in return?
What do you expect from others?
What do you expect of yourself?

Compassion is the key. Selfless Service is Quality Service. Experience the
Peace and Joy of giving and receiving with no strings attached.

Day to Day:
Think of your daily activities. What is the worth in:

 Making Money
 Experiencing Pleasure
 Seeking Adventure
 Obtaining Power
 Educating Yourself
 Having a Family
 Developing a Career.

All of these things involve different forms of service. When you find where the serving is being done, you will then find greater spirit in the activity. When you truly appreciate this, you will not be stuck in drudgery anymore.

Ask yourself: “How can we serve in a way that will promote peace of mind and ease of body, while being useful to those around us and experiencing the joy of giving.”


Simple Service
Think of all these things for a moment and realise the simplicity in small service.

 Smile at a person
 Compliment someone on how they look
 When going for a cuppa, fill someone else’s cup too
 Let someone in when the traffic is heavy
 Park at the back of the car park to allow the older and more frail to park at the front
 Quickly mow the neighbor’s front lawn and nature strip.
 Take the neighbor’s garbage bin back in after it has been emptied
 When you see something dangerous lying on the road, stop and remove it.
 Stand back and allow someone else to go first
 Share a joke

There are many, many more…

References: “Help Yourself to Health”, Neal and Carla Hoptman.

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Article Tags: abundance, clean water, contentment, dependence, failure, fear, fresh air, good times, half times, happiness, hardships, health effects, life money, money gifts, nutritious food, peace and goodwill, purpose in life, sadness and depression, true source, volunteer work



Related Forum Posts
Re: Service Or Product? - I agree with starting a Service-based Business in the economy. Here is what I think is critical: 1. Researching that your Service business has a market. 2. Marketing the Service with as much leverage as possible. 3. Product-izing the Service (aka Package Expert Knowledge). This will only help elevate you as "the" expert in your niche and make you accessible to people in different price points.
Who Said Twitter Doesn't Work...? - Last month, the BBC World Service programme, The Strand, featured 21 year-old Icelandic pianist/composer Olafur Arnalds. Arnalds achieved extraordinary success through his internet-led project to compose 7 tunes in 7 days, post them on his website and then post links to it via TWITTER. As a result his website got thousands of visitors eager to listen to his music, catapulting him to fame and bringing his music to the attention of the BBC, who featured an interview with him on the World Service programme, The Strand! So who says Twitter doesn't work? (HINT: It does help if you have something uniquely your own that other people want to get hold of...)
Re: Ways to Boost Productivity - 1. Give Employees More Than a Paycheck 2. Provide Better eSupport Channels to Promote Self-Service 3. Complete your most dreaded tasks first thing in the morning. 4. Outsource as much as possible 5. . Turn off the TV.
Re: Service Or Product? - Service company always thrive in down economy. Let look at the advertising industies in any economy, you need to advertise your products or services even if you cannot afford any other things
Show the Benefits - Offer a free test drive of the Product or Service with a Money Back Guarantee - Take the Risk out. This will help them make the decision but you have to work with them to realize it by explicitly state the benefits they are receiving.


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