Thursday 23 October 2008

Providing Value To The World

How are you providing value to the world?

Like many people, your initial answer to this question will probably revolve around what you’re doing to provide value and to contribute towards the upliftment of the world… I write articles on spiritual development, I teach young children, I make environmentally-friendly products, I do voluntary charity work….

As Lightworkers, when we consider providing value to the world, we usually think in terms of doing things like the examples above. They all seem very clearly geared towards assisting others and bettering the world. The value of such activities seems obvious and direct.

What if the answer to the question is something like I meditate every day or I work as an administrative assistant?

Meditating could be seen as a selfish activity – on the face of it, it is not other-oriented. Working as an admin assistant could be seen as a job far removed from traditional Lightworker roles.

However, an argument could be made that meditating calms you down, and that interacting with others later in the day is always much better when you’re in a calm state than when you’re rushed, anxious and worried. Similarly, an argument could be made that dedicated and competent administrative assistants provide value to the companies for which they work by keeping them organised, efficient and effective.

Both of these arguments are true. Yet they only hint at the full extent to which these two activities can be utilised to provide profound value to the world. The key to this lies in your state of being while doing these activities.

This is easy to see when we look at an activity like meditation. Entering into an alpha state and allowing Source energy to flow freely not only has positive benefits for ourselves, but also for the world – this energy ripples out and affects others, even those with whom we don’t come into direct contact during the day. We may not see the immediate impact of our meditative activities beyond our own well-being and positive changes in our relationships with family and friends, but it is there. Research has demonstrated that crime rates and accidents decrease when even a small percentage of the population of an area meditates (the Maharishi Effect).

Okay, so it is easy to add value to the world by meditating. But what if you don’t have time to meditate because you have to get to work as an admin assistant every day? The same principles apply. Even though you may not be sitting in the lotus position chanting Om, you can still bring a meditative state to your work by practising mindfulness and presence. When you are being peace regardless of what activity you are doing, you can bring peace to the world.

I think we can get very caught up in only considering value from a superficial point of view, in the sense that, on the face of it, someone working in an anti-crime charity seems to be adding more value to the world than someone working as an administrative assistant, for example. When we look at things from an energy level, however, the picture may be very different – it is possible that the charity worker is vibrating with anger and fear, whereas the admin assistant may be vibrating with love and peace. The former will ironically be contributing to increasing the very ills that she is trying to work towards decreasing, whereas the latter will be far more effective at decreasing crime and promoting peace, even though that isn’t her official job description.

So… let me ask you again. How are you proving value to the world?

Tuesday 7 October 2008

World Gratitude Gathering

Kate Saltfleet’s latest post on her blog, Experiments In Living, is focused on the World Gratitude Gathering. Even though the gathering began on 1 October, it’s not too late to join. Thank you, Kate, for bringing this gathering to my attention!

The 9 Agreements for World Gratitude participants are:

1. I agree that a world of Love and Gratitude begins with me. I choose to be a conscious mirror and model of the change I wish to see in the world.

2. I agree to consciously set an intention for manifesting something miraculous in my life throughout this process.

3. I agree to tap into Gratitude on a daily basis and as much as possible in every waking moment. I know that the rewards of doing so flow through and extend beyond me, strengthening the collective field of Gratitude from which we may all derive benefit.

4. I agree to be a consistently uplifting inspiration in all my interactions in World Gratitude. I commit to see and mirror back the greatness of each soul who crosses my path. I choose to discover and nurture the light within so that it may shine forth to others and magnify their life.

5. I agree to honor each individual's right to choose their own belief system and life path.

6. I agree to be open to both give and receive within this community. In all my dealings, I seek win-win, mutually edifying interactions and transactions.

7. I agree to be my word in my exchanges with others. I realize that my personal influence is magnified to the degree I am able to keep my word with myself and others. If something comes up and I decide to change what I had agreed upon, then I agree to make that communication as soon as possible to the affected party.

8. I agree to love and enjoy my life as much as possible!

9. And, last but certainly not least, I agree to be Grateful for ME!

If these agreements resonate with you, click on the link below to join the gathering:

Monday 6 October 2008

An Invitation To Connect With Me!

I love The Internet! It makes connecting with like-minded people so easy, and I’m very grateful for the many friends I’ve made so far via this blog. Some of us are already FaceBook friends, Twitter followers and followees, and fellow Stumblers, but I know that there are still many connections to be made.

If you’d like to connect with me and this blog, here are the different ways you can do so:

FaceBook
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Twitter
Follow me at twitter.com/magswallis

StumbleUpon
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