One of the best ways to show our caring is to allow everyone and everything to simply be — through respect. Respect is the universal currency that is accepted everywhere and by everyone. The answer to so many of our problems is greater understanding and compassion. The power of "getting to know one another" is so immense, eclipsed only by first getting to know ourselves. Carefully question the sources of your deepest animosity toward your perceived enemies, they may not be enemies at all. Many of our conflicts are cultivated between us by manipulation to misdirect our attention and to control us. We are all being played against one-another, and our hate is produced. Our inner-most truth is love. Anyone can be kind to someone they like, but the real test is can you be kind to people you don't like? When we become acquainted with any person on a human level, even a great enemy, we begin to see that no person is really so different from ourselves. We are all frail-embodied creatures, who at times suffer through injustice, abuse, illness, pain and misfortune. We are all imperfect and make mistakes. We all struggle. We all feel pain. We all have wishes and hopes. Hate offers the world no hope — only love can do that. Wish for the happiness of your enemies, for if they are happy, they are your enemy no more.
Don't underestimate your power of influence. In today's world, any average effort or caring is a triumph. Simple caring and simple effort are heroic strivings. Those who have attained wisdom from the difficulties intrinsic to every life — can and should try to be there for others. Like experienced midwives, we should all assist those who are inexperienced in the painful birthing of psychological maturity and greater spiritual consciousness. This is the least we can do; lead people from their darkness with the light of our caring.
No matter your philosophical or religious framework, whether it be the golden rule of Christianity, the view of biochemical inducement of self-preservation through the sociological laws of reciprocity, the "Mystical Law" of Karma (the universal law of ethical causation), Confucian Shu reciprocity, laws of the harvest or any other world-view construct of the same concept, life will start working for you rather than against you when you hold these beliefs to be inherently true. Life has a way of shining on people who stand in the sunshine of kind actions. But you can't fake it. It has to come from the heart, with a true spirit of giving and selflessness. For a moment in this brief existence, we have the privilege to share time with other people, and serve them and their needs. And there is a beautiful gift that comes with giving, and that is service brings healing to both the recipient and the giver. If you have not been served personally by caring hands in your own life, do not be bitter, but instead, ask yourself who you can now serve. If you have had some tough times in life, now more than ever is the time to make someone else's life better. You see, how we treat other people changes them, but even more so, how we treat other people changes us. This is the wondrous gift of giving; through this act, we receive an important part of our own identity. Small acts of kindness between you and the individuals around you create such abundance. Let us all reach out with a hope that we could each bring some degree of happiness to other human beings. Let each of us lead a revolution of support in the lives of others. Giving is always one of the most powerful ways to manifest. Share the treasure of your love with others and you will always be rich. Treat others with respect and you will always be wealthy because your community is your real currency.
Courtesy is such a powerful and amazing gift to give. Courtesy is a silver lining around the dark clouds of civilization; it is the best part of refinement and, in many ways, an art of heroic beauty in the vast gallery of man's cruelty and baseness. Mastering courtesy alone will enhance your life and the lives of others. We can give a tired clerk a kind and understanding glance. We can give a frustrated driver a spot in line on the road. We can give a hopeful passerby a kind smile and wave. We can speak to people at all stations of life with respectful and polite words and tones. We can wait patiently when we have only one item in the grocery line behind someone with a full cart, offering them a gentle smile instead of a frustrated tapping foot; body language to help make their day better. When we want to talk, we can instead listen, and let our attentiveness to another's need to speak be our silent statement. All of these simple but powerful gifts have immense value to the person receiving them, and all are examples of an overarching philosophy of giving and service that we can each apply in our lives every day. Simply by thinking about something other than ourselves, and by monitoring our behaviors with a pure and selfless intent of making the lives of other people better, we have the privileged opportunity to change them for the better. The solution to nearly every problem in the world comes down to greater awareness, compassion, and empathy. The roots of all commonwealth are planted in the understanding that we are all the same human beings. What we do to others, we do to ourselves.
Many people want more in their relationships; more money and more success. They try to force these things, and when they do not materialize, they become negative and pessimistic. The harder they try, the more bitter and desperate they become, and the further the things they want seem to move away. They do not realize that all success comes through other people. It can seem counterintuitive when you learn that you get most things in life not by taking, but by giving. Giving is the key to all success in all applications of human life. The act of true giving is indistinguishable from receiving. Giving yourself is the ultimate revolution! Giving is not a physical action; giving is a philosophy and a way of living life. There are endless opportunities to give the smallest things that cost us nothing, but have great value to other people. Money and time are not the only things we can give. We can give others appreciation, patience, compassion, courtesy, kindness, dependability, friendship, forgiveness, gratitude, honesty, loyalty, respect, tolerance and of course — love.
There are many types of currency, not the least of which is a system of emotional and trust economics that govern societies, both primitive and modern. These economics govern every relationship, whether it be between individuals or nations. In fact, money as we know it does not really exist. Money is just a piece of paper, and outside of our dynamic and collective consent it has no value beyond the value of the paper it is printed on. The only reason money has value is because we all agree that it does. So, ironically, money could be seen as a placeholder for trust. We trust that when we go to redeem that worthless piece of paper (or its digital representation in an account) the recipient will honor its value with real-world goods and services at a fair exchange. In a relationship, when trust is lost, everything is lost. We are all in a relationship with one another. We can become emotionally bankrupt, or even in debt. And this is why it is important that we invest in people with our personal currency of service, restoring those whose personal accounts of hope and optimism are low.
When you are generous, sometimes people will take advantage. You may be respectful and yet some people will still be unkind. You may be a good person, and some people will nonetheless still treat you terribly. We don't always get what we give, but that's fine, because you aren't giving it for them anyway, at least not exclusively. It's really all a statement by, about and for you. How you treat others is really about who you choose to be in this life. The repayment for your good acts are the good acts themselves. When you act honorably, even if others don't, your honorable actions are your irretractable reward to yourself. Who you chose to be — decision by decision and act by act — is the great reward you receive by doing good. What is well done is well received. The mark you leave in another's heart is always left in yours; for better or worse. Just because people are not nice to you doesn't mean you have to be unkind back. That's how the world changes — one brave person like you being kind.
Contrary to what you may think, real leadership is not about superiors and their followers. Leadership is not about the senseless accumulation of wealth and power. Proper leadership concerns itself with what it does with its power to serves others. The endgame of leadership is fostering dignity in the lives of others. Real leaders want to create and empower other leaders; only the phonies hog it all for themselves. Real leaders spend more of their energy helping others than helping themselves. Real leadership is less about leading and more about service. Real leadership is about giving, and carrying the dreams and hopes of others in your heart every step of the way. The distinguishing characteristic of a true leader is pure elation in seeing others prosper. It is time that spiritual people open themselves to total abundance without shame or guilt. The world needs more conscious and caring leaders who are empowered, not only with integrity and big hearts, but with cold hard cash! Embrace the resources that can help bring more positivity, compassion, understanding, and change into the world.
Money is not the problem in the world; hard hearts are the real problem — the hard hearts of both the rich and the poor. Unkind and selfish people, whether they be rich or poor, live in abject poverty. Yes, you have permission to make money — lots of it. Let your wealth aid in funding your passions, visions and hopes for others. And like all energy, such as time, effort, money and thought — spend it compassionately, purposefully and in service of others. For those who say money is evil or that it hardens your heart; speak for yourself — that's only your relationship with money. Money only magnifies and extends who you already are. Negative people who criticize and judge others just because they have money, spend their scant resources of time and effort foolishly and with a mean spirit. I became rich because I have a rich heart. I became wealthy because I spent my poverty well and kindly. You choose your worth in life each day, by how you treat others. Open yourself to the possibility of your total empowerment!
The lie that you can't make money doing what you love is just a projection of your self-accepted unworthiness. We are all worthy of abundance. The great Earth is abundant, and we are its stewards; endless wealth is ours. We have the wealth of the universe; it's all accessible, but you have to claim the abundance. You don't have to be poor to be deeply spiritual, and in fact spirituality can bring every type of wealth there is to be had. What the world needs more than anything is more spiritual millionaires and spiritual billionaires; the world needs conscious leadership! Maybe that leader is you.
