Chapter five,
What goes around?
Initially you may be skeptical about your main focus being on bringing happiness to others.
After all,
We have spent our lives believing that we need more,
Not less,
To win,
Not lose,
To gain,
Not give.
These have been our life lessons as we search for happiness ourselves,
And now we are being asked to give it away.
It could be perceived by many as a sign of weakness.
How could you possibly just keep giving?
It's exhausting,
It's just not right.
And surely the more we give,
The more people just take,
Take,
Take.
What happens when we have nothing more to give?
What about if we need more?
Is it just like a bank account,
And at some point we're empty with no overdraft facility?
Okay,
So here's the clever part.
Remember,
For every action,
There's a reaction.
This planet that we all call home needs to balance.
It turns on its axes every day.
Occasionally there's a manifestation that we often call a natural disaster,
Such as a volcano erupting,
Or a tsunami or hurricane that devastates an area.
It may be that if no lives are lost,
We can recognise them as wondrous,
Majestic acts of nature,
And the Earth's ability to explode with raw,
Untamed beauty.
In contrast,
Every day,
And at almost any time,
We all have the opportunity to witness our Earth's ability to be still,
Or tranquil.
It's all around us,
But we are just too busy most of the time to notice.
A soft mist as it lies against the surface of a lake.
A gentle,
Warm breeze as it caresses and slowly dances through long grass on a summer's day.
A majestic oak tree that stands perfectly still and seems to have secrets to tell.
A full moon on a quiet,
Clear night.
There is a knowing in nature that everything is in balance.
A tree doesn't grieve for falling leaves on an autumn day.
It sheds its leaves to the soil in the knowing that in giving and nourishing the ground around it,
They will return.
It gives its fruit until it has no more,
Until to us it looks bare,
But the tree knows the secret of the universe.
Whilst it stands,
It has an unlimited abundance.
Giving makes way for more.
In fact,
Giving at just the right time encourages growth.
Imagine the tree clinging for dear life to every brittle leaf and becoming even more fearful and anxious because it thinks that it has no control over nature's flow.
Think about that for a moment.
Leaves seem to dance on the wind as the tree waves farewell,
Full of gratitude that everything always turns out just right.
The Persian poet and philosopher Hafiz knew the same thousands of years ago when he observed,
"'The sun never says to the earth,
You owe me.
' Look what happens with a love like that.
It lights up the sky.
" So how is that relevant to us?
Well,
Because we are an absolute part of this planet,
Of the universe.
We breathe the same air,
Need the same light,
And share the same rainfall as every living thing.
Therefore,
If we accept there is a natural balance on the planet,
Then why would it be any different for us?
Here's the key.
We don't give to receive,
But what we do give,
We naturally get back.
It's what makes the world go round.
What goes around comes around.
What you put in,
You get out.
We've sort of heard this already.
It seems to make sense to us.
Perhaps now,
For the first time,
You are being asked to approach it from a deeper,
Humane level.
It's not just about working longer hours gets you the promotion,
Or training harder gets you the gold,
Or more revision delivers a better mark,
Although they may do.
This law is as absolute as gravity.
If you jump off a building,
It doesn't matter how much money you have,
How beautiful you are,
What you have or haven't supposedly achieved in your life,
You're going to fall and hit the ground.
The universe sings your song.
If your lyrics include peaceful,
Kind,
Caring,
And happy,
Then it will line up like-minded people and opportunities to sing along with you.
If on the other hand,
Your main verse contains words such as anger,
Anxiety,
Resentment,
And dishonesty,
Then a cue will also form,
As the world is full of individuals looking for someone with a song just like yours.
So your choice of actions and how you can bring happiness to others not only affects your ability to be happy,
But also attracts the people,
Events,
And opportunities that come your way in life.
Looking at it this way,
It becomes obvious to us that only one sung choice can deliver true happiness.
It's now just a matter of deciding if you want to sing along.
In other words,
Like attracts like,
And the reward of giving happiness to others is that just like the tree and its fruit,
It will return to you and leave you in full bloom to give again and again.
