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Giving and getting come from the same source.
When out of work, what’s a person who likes to eat, and drive, and pay their bills supposed to do? That’s what I’m asking myself today. I’ve been looking in the classifieds. Pretty depressing. They all want skills or experience I don’t possess. Or else, I'm supposed to drive a paper route - BYOT (Bring your own truck.)
I just want to be of assistance to others. Really! I NEED to be of help to somebody. I need to GIVE,
It’s a lesson I learned a few years back:
I had gotten my ticket for a show that a friend of mine and I were going to. Her ticket was in a lousy location and mine was great. Spontaneously I traded tickets with her insisting that she have the better seat. She was thrilled.
It wasn’t until after she left with the great ticket in hand that I realized what I’d done. I’d traded away my great seat for this lousy one! What was I thinking?!
Okay. I had two hours until the start of the show to get really depressed about it. That was easy. I accomplished that pretty thoroughly in about 20 minutes!
Then I decided to try to think differently about it. And a kind of law popped into my head. It said: If you need something, you need to give something. Hmmm, interesting concept, I thought.
I tried to think what I could give. I was out of town, hadn’t brought anything with me. No extra money. Then I realized I did have something valuable. I had ME! I could DO something. I could volunteer for something.
I went to the event coordinator’s office and asked if I could volunteer for something. They were pleased that I offered, and set me up as an usher at the back door of the event. Okay. This prospect sounded boring, but at least it gave me something I could do.
To my surprise, I actually enjoyed helping to direct the ticket holders to their seats. It was fun greeting people and being of assistance. After a short while, the manager told me I was free to leave my post and go enjoy the show, and I could sit anywhere I wanted. I went in and quickly found a wonderful seat, even better than the one I’d given away. Later I checked back with the ushers, but was no longer needed. I was free to go enjoy. And enjoy, I did.
Later I analyzed why my volunteering experience worked so well as an antidote to my initial fear and disappointment. First, I didn’t volunteer with an ulterior motive of receiving a better ticket or some compensation…except to wash the bitter taste of fear that threatened to spoil my whole day out of my mouth. Instinctively I knew that doing something good and unselfish, makes you feel better. But there was more to it than that.
I think my act of giving was an affirmation that good is not limited, and my giving good to my friend couldn’t deprive me of abundant good for myself. My ability and desire to volunteer was proof of the constant presence of good, unlimited and abundant, even af-ter I thought I’d given it away.
So, even now when I’m looking for my next opportunity for employment, I’m convinced that if I can give something, then some good will have to come of it.
I think I need to make myself a note:
Whenever you’re lacking something,
You need to give something.
So, I’m now giving this little experience of mine to you, and hope it will somehow bless you, too. This is the next blog in a series from SEWJourner.com where our blogger shares her experiences in finding the right job that fits.
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