After I shared the link to my last blog entry on my personal Facebook timeline, one of my relatives made the comment that a smile might be the best gift a person receives that day. Her wonderful comment got me to thinking more deeply about service and what my self-proclaimed “Year of Service” actually means. Of course, it means whatever you want it to mean to you. But it generated a few questions for me:
- Can something as simple as a smile be considered service?
- Is service in the eye of the giver or the receiver?
- Does true service involve a sacrifice on the part of the service provider?
- Is it true service if the service provider makes money?
To be honest, I don’t know that there are necessarily right or wrong answers to the questions above. I am sure everyone that reads this article will have different ideas/answers. Nonetheless, I will share my thoughts and I would love to read your thoughts in the comments here (if I can figure out how to activate them!) or on our Facebook page (The Shaven Raven).
For me, it starts with the definition of service from the dictionary: the action of helping or doing work for someone. So, as my aunt commented on Facebook, a helpful smile can certainly be an act of service. Of course, I am personally searching for bigger opportunities but I certainly believe that choosing happiness is where the goal of service begins. (Yes, happiness is a choice and will be a subject for another post for sure)
One of the problems I see in our world is that people are not willing to begin small, to begin with just a smile. We don’t need more acts of heroism; we need more acts of love.
Following along that line of thinking, do acts of service or acts of love involve sacrifice? To sacrifice is to give up something valued for something else regarded as more worthy. Many times there is no guarantee of a positive payoff with a sacrifice. However, as Teddy Roosevelt once said: “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, [and] difficulty.” In other words, it takes sacrifice to reach our goals.
But does that sacrifice mean a meager life, one lived in relative poverty? While this choice is a personal one, I also believe true wealth is NOT derived from money or material possessions. Additionally, it is practically impossible to look inside someone’s heart and to divine their true motivations. In fact, I think what we all want to see, though, is that the “profit” or “earnings” from one’s service remain in direct proportion to the sacrifice needed to deliver that service. That is probably why we don’t get paid for handing out smiles. 😉
The Year of Service is just beginning. I can already see that with each post, we are going to encounter new questions, new ideas, and hopefully, new understanding. I certainly don’t have all the answers but I am hoping that together, we can reach new heights while also improving our world.