Giving Back Gives To Us

The self-love, self-knowledge, self-discovery journey is useful in embracing and loving one’s individual wholeness, in understanding the intricacies of our unique personalities and personas. But wholeness in its entirety, society and beyond, involves much more than oneself.

When the spotlight is solely on the individual, insecurity and anxiousness likely follow. The attempt to uphold one’s image to perfection is impossible when judgment is inevitable. But once the light broadens and the focus is turned towards a bigger scene, both vanish. Because truth reveals that while it’s important to be aware of ourselves, it’s also important to be aware of and contribute to life neighboring ourselves - supporting within our means, however we can. Which paradoxically helps us understand ourselves and our position better.

It’s easy to get caught up in rabbit-hole-temptations “for the self” that are masked in other identities because the traps are so manipulative and the shame cycles are so deep. But, if we continue to dig, past the old stories, past the dark parts, we’ll find that what’s even deeper than self-deception and pain is the goodness of our core. The deepest, purest part of ourselves, that won’t always affirm our surface-level passions and pleasures. That will sometimes discipline us to move beyond that self-serving place into our greater motivations in life and acts of service.

Letting the question transition, as reflected in the maturation of a child to an adult, from “How can life best give to me?” to “How can I best give to life?” Which unlocks a life so FULL of purpose and gratification, that it is the only way forward that makes life feel complete.