Do You Owe A Debt Of Thanks ?
7729
Self Improvement > Happiness
Mar 1, 2007
Deanna Mascle
Do You Owe A Debt Of Thanks ?
This is a time of year when many people take stock of all that they are grateful for -- or at least when we should do so. But this should also be a time when we take stock of all those people who contributed to those gifts -- especially the intangible ones. Those gifts such as our self-esteem or confidence, our love of sports or music, and our spine. What person or group do you owe the greatest debt? Was there a special person or group that really helped you become the person you are today?
Was there someone who helped you believe in yourself and your ability? Was there someone who taught you to appreciate life in a new way? Was there just someone who was there so you could count on them no matter what?
Most of us have been fortunate to have not just one person but a whole team of teachers, coaches, and mentors who helped us grow and reach our potential. We should remember to thank those people again and again as we live the lives they helped us shape. Even more important we need to repay that debt -- not to those individuals but to society. How is your debt? Have you paid it yet or are you still pretending it doesn't exist?
We often hear the expression as it relates to criminals. It is sometimes used as a euphemism for incarceration. The truth is though that we all owe a debt to society. Not because we have done some harm to the community but instead because we have benefited from someone else doing good.
I am a Presbyterian and our expression of the Lord's Prayer includes the phrase "And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors". Obviously no matter how good we are and how exemplary our lives we can never repay our debt to God or his son so that part of the meaning is rather clear. I also think this means that we should do good for goodness sake rather than any potential benefit we may reap from the act.
I also think there is another level of meaning and this comes back to the central idea of our debt to society. I think when it comes down to acts of kindness there cannot be a one-to-one relationship. Obviously in many cases when a person is in need of help they may never be in a position to return that help in kind. But it isn't really what we want or need when we offer help or kindness in any case.
Whenever I do something charitable, helpful, or kind, I tend to view the act as contributing to a vast fund of kindness. Many times in my life I have profited from this fund and very likely I will continue to profit from it.
One of the reasons I like this concept is that I do think of it as a sort of fund or bank. The value grows exponentially rather than incrementally just as money would do if similarly invested. We should all be grateful for this because the truth is that we usually don't pay our debt to society.
Most of us will write the occasional check, buy a ticket for some raffle, and/or spend a few hours working here and there on some pet project. There are a few who will go much further than this and spend a large portion of their time, energy, and/or money for the greater good but they are far too few.
Often whenever we face pressure on our time or finances then it is our philanthropic activities that are the first to be sacrificed. I have been all too guilty of this myself. I wonder what would happen if we reversed this and instead put helping others first rather than last?
My challenge to you this week is simply to find a way to add to our goodness fund. Borrow from the concept of "Pay It Forward". When someone offers you a helping hand then be sure to pass the favor along at the first opportunity. Don't pick and choose. Don't balance your checkbook first. Don't take the easy path. Do what is right. You will know it when you see it.
Was there someone who helped you believe in yourself and your ability? Was there someone who taught you to appreciate life in a new way? Was there just someone who was there so you could count on them no matter what?
Most of us have been fortunate to have not just one person but a whole team of teachers, coaches, and mentors who helped us grow and reach our potential. We should remember to thank those people again and again as we live the lives they helped us shape. Even more important we need to repay that debt -- not to those individuals but to society. How is your debt? Have you paid it yet or are you still pretending it doesn't exist?
We often hear the expression as it relates to criminals. It is sometimes used as a euphemism for incarceration. The truth is though that we all owe a debt to society. Not because we have done some harm to the community but instead because we have benefited from someone else doing good.
I am a Presbyterian and our expression of the Lord's Prayer includes the phrase "And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors". Obviously no matter how good we are and how exemplary our lives we can never repay our debt to God or his son so that part of the meaning is rather clear. I also think this means that we should do good for goodness sake rather than any potential benefit we may reap from the act.
I also think there is another level of meaning and this comes back to the central idea of our debt to society. I think when it comes down to acts of kindness there cannot be a one-to-one relationship. Obviously in many cases when a person is in need of help they may never be in a position to return that help in kind. But it isn't really what we want or need when we offer help or kindness in any case.
Whenever I do something charitable, helpful, or kind, I tend to view the act as contributing to a vast fund of kindness. Many times in my life I have profited from this fund and very likely I will continue to profit from it.
One of the reasons I like this concept is that I do think of it as a sort of fund or bank. The value grows exponentially rather than incrementally just as money would do if similarly invested. We should all be grateful for this because the truth is that we usually don't pay our debt to society.
Most of us will write the occasional check, buy a ticket for some raffle, and/or spend a few hours working here and there on some pet project. There are a few who will go much further than this and spend a large portion of their time, energy, and/or money for the greater good but they are far too few.
Often whenever we face pressure on our time or finances then it is our philanthropic activities that are the first to be sacrificed. I have been all too guilty of this myself. I wonder what would happen if we reversed this and instead put helping others first rather than last?
My challenge to you this week is simply to find a way to add to our goodness fund. Borrow from the concept of "Pay It Forward". When someone offers you a helping hand then be sure to pass the favor along at the first opportunity. Don't pick and choose. Don't balance your checkbook first. Don't take the easy path. Do what is right. You will know it when you see it.
Article Source: http://www.articlerich.com
You can read other articles by Deanna Mascle at Smiles By Dawggone Submitted with Article Distributor.
Write a Review
Add to My Favorite
Refer it to Friend
Report Article
Other links owned by this user
You want to go back to school and continue your education. Perhaps you'd like to earn your first degree or ou'd like to earn a new degree in a different field. You've been dreaming of that degree but haven't dared believe your dream can come true
Category:
If you could be anything and do anything, who would you be and what would you do? Most people do not recognize the power available to them in their own mind. Winston Churchill once said: "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big
Category:
Lately I've been hearing a lot of rumblings around the internet marketing community that say ezine advertising is dead and gone. I have to tell you that ezine advertising is alive and well -- and still one of the most effective and powerful
Category:
The ultimate goal of reading instrution is to enable hildren to understand what they read, so reading instrution has to be about more than simply mathing letters and sounds -- it also has to be about onneting words and meaning. It is
Category:
This is a question that most people grapple with from time to time and it has largely been on my mind this past week. You see one of the best people I know -- my Uncle Carl -- had a very bad accident this week. While working on the wood lot
Category:
I have lost track of the number of discussion board posts and emails I have answered about that topic. I admit for those first venturing into the uncharted waters of internet business it can be challenging and more than a little daunting. There is a
Category:
This is a time of year when many people take stock of all that they are grateful for -- or at least when we should do so. But this should also be a time when we take stock of all those people who ctributed to those gifts -- especially the intangible
Category:
You've heard the buzz but still have some questions. Does ne Advertising really work? Yes, ne Advertising really does work and here are 10 reasons why this form of internet marketing is so powerful and effective: 1. An
Category:
Other links at Self Improvement > Happiness
I have no doubt that there are many people out there who are searching for ways of improving their overall quali of life. We have no divine right to be happy of course but on the other hand we should not just sit back and accept second best. I am the
Category:
Many negative emotions are the result of confusion concerning "who is responsible for whose reality." If we believe that others are responsible for our reality and how we feel, and they do not "create" our reality as we would like it to be or do not
Category:
Many books have been written about success and how to achieve it. But if there one true way to achieve success it is true happiness. That?s right. or what is the point of being successful if you are not happy? But how do you become happy?
Category:
You love each but can?t manage to communicate without arguing, fighting and ending up exhausted, each one in his corner, trying to lick his wounds and thinking of how to protect one self against a new attack. And in spite of that?you love each
Category:
Many of us wish for more We want to lead happier, more fulfilling, lives, but the sad truth is that so many of us that wish for more happiness spend much more time tending the happiness of others than we do tending to our own
Category:
Site Sponsor
Directory Statistics
Articles: 68228
Categories: 501
Yahoo Entertainment
