Hey! Happy one year anniversary to me! It was one year ago on Saint Patty’s Day that I officially became a reverend. A Jewish Reverend. Reverend SASSY SHORTS! Yay!
Today, I want to talk about feeling lucky and loved. And how YOU can generate those feelings and experiences for yourself. I want that for you, so much!!!
One of the themes that rose up in the podcast that Michele Stone and I just posted was the feeling of contribution. She had mentioned that in the last couple of mornings, she didn’t feel anxious. Well… that would be pretty much opposite to most of the rest of the world right now… So we looked at it.
In the last couple of days, through our podcast, she is contributing at a level that is coming from the depths of her soul. There is GREAT peace in that because from that space, you are connected to the Great Love of your whole being. And when you give from that space, you feel GRAND.
I have been living inside of that experience for many years. Not perfectly and not always. But frequently. And deliberately. And when I don’t feel it, it’s like something is missing.
For me, the grand-awesome feeling of contribution began when I started presenting Reach Your Stars success seminars for schools. It got to where I had hundreds of teachers on waiting lists for me to visit their classrooms and dozens of principals who wanted me to speak to their teachers.
As soon as I jumped FULLY IN, the news on TV stopped bothering me. I saw myself as contributing and being part of the solution. My need to complain decreased by a thousand fold and I became hooked on contributing. That doesn’t mean I was volunteering. I was paid quite well, actually, funded by generous corporate sponsors.
I learned so much. Prior to that time, I felt cynical about corporations. But during that time, I felt the hearts of people who looked at me square in the eye and said, “Thank you so much for doing this for the kids. We don’t have the time to do it. You are doing it for us.” I felt their gratitude for many years. I still do.
The reason I’m talking about this right now is because Michele, today, made me realize that this is the biggest energy that moves me. No matter what I’m experiencing, I care to contribute. And when she said her anxiety had disappeared, I completely understood what she felt.
This doesn’t make us saints. It makes us human.
The challenge for me in communicating this with you is that it can sound so cliché.
But it’s a big deal. It is at the heart of feeling at peace with yourself and with the world. Your contribution doesn’t have to be huge. It just has to be real.
Knowing that you make a difference is one of the kindest things you can do for yourself, for your immune system and for humanity. When a person feels useful, their body responds with inner strength.
“Feeling lucky and loved and needed and wanted” is what happens when you contribute from the depths of your soul. When you express who you really are. When you are authentic and real with no hold-back.
I challenge you, implore you and invite you to use this time of “social distancing” to find ways that you can contribute. Do you like to speak, to write, to act? Post it. Use your online presence powerfully and for good.
Give people a reason to feel connected, to smile, to not feel so alone. Do it imperfectly. I certainly am! So is Michele!
Also, if someone else is contributing something useful to you, please take a moment to thank them. You’ll boost their mood and you might even make their day.
Right now, you have time.
And the world is at your fingertips.
You got this. We’re doing it together.
Much love,
HappyD!
Debbie’s books include Reach Your Stars!, SANCTUARY and It’s All About Kids: Every Child Deserves a Teacher of the Year. And I Don’t Think So! Her friends have nicknamed her Happy D! and Reverend SASSY SHORTS! You can find her blogging and write to her at http://www.joybasedliving.com.
