It's all about others!!

Happy day Gratitude Chasers!!

I took a few months off and have enjoyed the time of reflection. As I was reflecting, the theme of our "life is not our own" kept popping up. The fact that in order to really live with fulfillment and satisfaction, we must give our lives away to gain our lives. To put it in the words of famous missionary Jim Elliot, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose".

Think about it for a minute with me. When was the last time you felt really fulfilled? Was it when you served someone or helped out or made a promise to someone and came through on that promise?

Jesus in Matthew 16: "25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?"

Why am I writing this here today? I am so glad you asked. Because in order for us to truly grow together and for me to be true to who God wired me to be, I have to share what I am learning with you. The last thing anyone wants is to waste what they have went through. You never know who will be listening (or reading in this case).

How often do you stop to think about the question: "Who will I serve today?" What if the best way to grow and find out what makes our life matter, is to get outside of ourselves and serve others.

When we decide to serve others, we are actually changing the world around us little by little and you never know who will be watching you as you serve. The simplest of acts can really determine a chain reaction. I was given a book years ago that helps reinforce this truth. The book is called "the kid who changed the world" by Andy Andrews. (here is a link to the book on amazon if you want it) If you have never read it, get it today and read it. Amazing to see how the simplest of acts made a huge impact and saved the lives of 2 billion people. Your life and my life are no accident. Everything we do matters.

What does this have to do with Gratitude? Gratitude comes out of a place of knowing you were made for me and that you have what you need and what you have is meant to be shared. A study conducted by two professors reported that giving is directly correlated whether our giving impacts others happiness and in doing so, our happiness rose. Here is the link for the full study if you want to read more.

As your life goes on, what are some small ways we can learn to give more of what we have away and lean into the fact that our time, talent and resources are a gift to be shared?

Thanks for reading and if you have any feedback or comments, I would love to hear them.