Let's get comfortable.
And in our own time,
Let's take three nice deep breaths.
Let's enjoy the sensations of these breaths.
The breath has all kinds of physiological advantages.
And by taking even one at any time throughout your day,
You stem the flow of various stimuli,
Which if you live the average Western life in 2021,
Is probably full of stimuli.
Of course,
Not all of these stimuli are bad.
Indeed,
We can make sure that the stimuli we offer to the world are beneficial.
What do I mean by this?
Well,
In simple terms,
Are you going to con people,
Or are you going to help people?
Sadly,
Society,
Capitalist society,
Often frames these two as mutually exclusive.
It's supposed that in order to get something,
You have to take something.
Or that in order to give something,
You have to lose something.
And of course,
These are both win-lose scenarios.
And actually,
There are plenty of win-win scenarios to be found.
And actually,
They're not always found outside of capitalism.
Capitalism just like everything else is not all bad,
It's okay to engage in capitalism.
Indeed most of us in the West,
And more and more in the East,
Have no choice.
So let us be,
As Jesus Christ said,
In the world,
But not of the world.
To be in the world physically,
But not of the world in terms of taking on its flavour.
Food has been present for millions of years.
In the animal kingdom,
Everyone wants the food.
And this translates into the human condition.
Apparently most of us have enough food now,
At least if we're lucky enough to be born in the first world.
And so we turn our attention instead to currency.
And it's common opinion that where there is money,
There is a win-lose arrangement.
This doesn't have to be the case.
And this is all made easier when we acknowledge that money is not the only currency.
There are other forms of payment that we can take from our work.
Of course we have to survive.
But beyond that,
What pleasure can we take from our work?
What pleasure can we take from our interactions with other people?
What pleasure can we take in providing a service?
This is something we will each have to answer in our specific circumstances.
But the potential is often great.
And indeed,
Once we start experiencing the pleasure that comes from being with others,
The pleasure that comes from providing service,
Our work becomes easier.
When our work is easier,
We can do it better.
We can do it for longer without becoming tired.
And interestingly enough,
This can lead to more acquisition of currency.
As long as we are in a win-lose paradigm,
Things are going to be a struggle.
We're either having to trick other people or give something of ourselves that usually we're not willing to give,
That usually we would prefer not to give.
We often do so begrudgingly.
What if that telephone call was just an excuse to connect with another human being?
And you have your business to do,
You're both playing a role.
But what's going on behind that role is two beings,
Each looking out from behind their eyes,
Trying to make the best of their existential condition.
If you've found your way to this talk,
You're probably aware that that can be confusing sometimes.
So let's have compassion.
Let's look for those win-win arrangements in every situation.
Let's see what benefit we can bring to those around us.
May we see that this is for our benefit as well.
May we all be safe and happy.
May we see that this is for our benefit as well.
