Now, you might be asking at this point, "what in the heck has this got to do with 'getting what you give'?!" Be patient and don't you fret. I will get there.
This evening as I was getting a very much needed massage I had a 'smack you upside the head ah ha!' moment. Now, let me give you a little back ground-- My massage therapist is totally awesome. He is very knowledgeable in his field and is very sensitive to a lot of things-- namely things like emotions, and "auras" for lack of a better term. He's knowledgeable about acupressure therapy and has a knack to know exactly where your 'trouble' spots are. Well, usually when I get my massage, he's really chatty and we'll talk about traveling and the weather and what not-- but today was different. As we were getting started, he asked me the usual small talk questions like how I've been doing, how work was going and so on and so forth-- so I filled him in on the little details and told him that I've been doing OK, but had been little down because of my grandma's passing among a few other things that had been really getting to me. He said he was sorry about my grandmother's passing and then he started the massage. It started out like any other massage, I told him where I needed a little more work, and what muscle groups had been bothering me lately and then jokingly asked him if he knew of any acupressure points that could release anger or frustration, to which he replied "I'm sure there are, but it's a matter of whether or not I can remember them!" and then we started chatting as per usual. After a few minutes, things had fallen dead silent, which was really odd. At first I thought, 'well, maybe he's not in a terribly chatty mood today,' so I decided to just keep my silence and enjoy the massage.
As I laid there with my eyes closed listening and enjoying the music and the massage, I started to wonder and try and figure out why he was so unusually quiet. Once he started working on my arms and hands he said "Hey! I found where you're keeping your anger!" So we started chatting and I asked him how he can tell that's where my 'anger and frustration' was lying and what not and then he said something that completely caught me off guard and by surprise. He said that earlier, when we had started the massage, he had felt the utmost overwhelming feeling of love surrounding every little bit of me. He had wanted to tell me once he felt it, but was unable to because it took everything he had to prevent himself from crying. (The good kind of crying you know.) The moment after he told me that I burst out into tears myself because for the first time in what seemed like forever, that feeling of love and peace had engulfed me and had broken through the protective wall I built around me. I all of a sudden could feel all the thoughts and prayers that had been directed my way-- something that I had yearned for and very much need to feel. But, most importantly, I felt my dear grandmothers presence and love. I knew that she was with me-- and was there to stay. Once I realized what I was feeling, it seemed like all that pain and sorrow for her passing had melted away and was replaced with peace and I started to feel happiness filter back into my life. For the rest of the (glorious two hour) massage, I started thinking about my grandmother and the kind of life she led--
Which leads me to this:
YOU GET WHAT YOU GIVE
My grandmother was a woman on a mission. To always serve and help those around her. She was the most kind, genuine person you would ever meet. She was always so concerned about how you were doing, and always kept up and kept track of what you were doing and would ask you about it every time she saw you. Every person I met that knew her always had the nicest things to say about my grandma-- how she was so selfless in things she did for other people and how genuine and classy she was. I remember one instance in my life, when my mom had just given birth to one of my little brothers, my grandma came over and cooked for the rest of the family, made sure the house was clean, dishes were done, and laundry was washed, dried and folded and took care of the rest of us kids. It was such a great blessing to my mom to have that burden lifted off her shoulders. Yet, my grandmother never asked or expected anything in return. She served us because she loved us, and wanted to be there for us in our time of need.
I never really knew of the impact my grandmother had on those around her until this past week. The love and support we have had from all those who knew her has been overwhelming. I have heard stories upon stories of the kind of life she lead and the different people's lives she touched. It has gone to show that you really do get what you give. My grandmother gave of her self. She used the talents and gifts she had to serve other people around her. To which in return-- she received the same, plus so, so much more.
Karma exists. Whether you like it or not. If you put negative vibes out around you, those vibes are going to come right back and bite you in the rear end. To give a little example-- Take the story, "A Christmas Carol." At the beginning of the book/movie, the character Scrooge is a mean, selfish, miserable old man that no one liked. Everyone either tolerated him, or was too scared to stand up to him. So, as the story goes on, on Christmas Eve, he was visited by three ghosts which showed him what is life would end up like if he keeps on going to the way he's going. Needless to say, it wasn't a very good life and definitely did not have a happy ending! After the dream/visits, Scrooge got his act together and changed his life and attitude and made a whole new, happier life for himself. He got what he gave-- He changed his ways, became loving, kind and charitable, and in return-- received the same and so much more and lived out the rest of his days happy.
One key ingredient to getting what you want out of life is to first give of yourself. Your time and service to others is a fail-proof way to being truly happy. Now, don't go about doing service begrudgingly and complain the whole way. If that's the case you may as well not even do it. Serve with an open, happy, sincere and genuine heart-- knowing that what ever small act of service you do, may be something that means the world to the person you're serving.
Being the Christmas season, makes it the perfect time to find people to serve-- for there are many who need it. Look for any way to serve those around. Whether it be something small like scraping someones windows in the morning, shoveling snow off their drive or walkway, helping someone with their groceries, Christmas lights, complimenting them on something.... anything! Start small and work your way to bigger things. Once you start serving, you won't want to stop.
Don't be a pre-ghost visit Scrooge. Be a post-ghost visit Scrooge! I promise that as you serve others, your life will change for the better and you will get what you WANT, but first you have to GIVE.
