There are many ways in which you can make a difference as described in my book “Soul Sailing.” And you are the only person who's able to make a decision about how you want to do that.
I'm going to suggest here that there are three broad categories of making a difference.
First - The first way in which you can make a difference involves you as an individual: attending to the health and well-being of your individual self. And this is the most important of the three; the best way you can make a difference in the larger worlds (of your family, job, or social/economic/political system) is to heal yourself. That involves healing your physical body of disease, and taking care to be emotionally healthy. You do both through proven techniques: proper diet, exercise that's appropriate to your situation, and relaxation methods.
Taking care of your physical body involves both diet and exercise; we all know that. But what helps you relax? Again, the techniques for doing so have stood the test of time. They include meditation and prayer. They also include three sets of things that depend on whether you're a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learner; in other words, whether you learn most efficiently - in this case relaxation - by seeing something, hearing it, or moving in one way or another. If you're a visual person, concentrate on slowing down and relaxing by focusing on something visual that you find beautiful. In letting yourself sink down - without effort - into that visual image, you will start to let go of things that had previously upset you. If you're an auditory person, listen to some beautiful music - or something else -you really enjoy. And again, let yourself effortlessly sink into that sense of slowing down and relaxing. If movement - such as dancing or tai-chi - has the effect of making you less uptight, move in some way that's appropriate to you.
And while you're doing these kinds of relaxation exercises, don't forget the importance of breath work. Use techniques that will help your breathing to become slower and deeper. Practicing these techniques will go a long way toward helping you relax and center yourself. To help you in doing so, I would strongly suggest you purchase a copy of Dr. Andrew Weil's CD entitlted "Breathing, The Master Key to Self Healing" (
www.soundstrue.com).
Second
- Another way in which you can make a difference (involving other people) is to concentrate on the things you are generally acknowledged by other people for doing. They may include writing notes to people who are down, calling up someone to say hello, visiting the sick and/or elderly, taking a casserole over to someone who might need it, encouraging a friend who's lost to stay the course, organizing a project, helping someone make sense of numbers, or a thousand others known only to you.
If people regularly say to you that you're good at writing notes (or calling, or visiting, etc.), concentrate on those kinds of things, or the ones you do well. That way you'll end up with the things you are good at, the will enjoy them that much more. This second way of making a difference may make the most sense to you. Why? Because you're concentrating on the things you enjoy doing, and do well.
Third - Besides attending to yourself, and perhaps the worlds involving your family and/or your job, you may want to concentrate on the larger social, economic, and political systems you live in.
Maybe your passion is to make a difference for the handicapped, for the environment, or for the way in which politics is practiced in this country. Or perhaps you want to concentrate on global hunger or poverty, or climate change. Whatever your cause, find ways to make that difference: talk to friends, subscribe to magazines (see a list in the Appendix of Soul Sailing) to see what you might do, or do some research on the Net. See who's doing what, and figure out what your talents and energy
are.
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