Tag: muhammad ali

THE RENT YOU PAY 💶

This quote really makes you think. We take for granted the space we occupy here on earth. We actually are just renting it. In time we will pass on and leave that space for someone else. This is not just in reference to our house or apartment. No, it is our career, the space we occupy in the hearts of our friends and family. There is the role we play in the community. If we stop and ponder, we need to pay for that rent. That payment, as Muhammad Ali so eloquently put it, is the service we give to others.

It has been my experience that the greater amount of service we provide for others, the greater the demand for our presence. We become more valuable and significant by serving others. This may seem counter-intuitive, but if you think about it I am sure you will find it to be true. If you wish to become more important, if you wish to command a greater amount of influence, if you want a larger social circle, all you have to do is be of greater service to your fellow humans.

How about you? What do you do to pay your rent here on earth? How to you serve others?

ARE YOU RUNNING WITH THE PACK?🐺

Running in packs sure can have its advantages. Just ask wolves. Their cooperative hunting strategies have allowed them to flourish and be more successful. They same can be said for those of us working on team projects. It certainly can come in handy in our spiritual faith. When we feel that faith faltering, it can be our ‘pack’ that can lift us up. How about our friends and family? That can be an amazing pack! They can check on us and have us feeling loved and cared about. They can also be a great source to lean on when we are down.

Where packs can turn from an asset to a detriment, is when we allow the pack to do our thinking for us. This seems especially true in both politics and faith. As we described earlier, the latter can help us a great deal. I am not sure about the former, but I digress. I have seen, in my own family, people leave their own family behind for no other reason than their faith was different. It is important to be able to step back from the pack, on occasion, and think for ourselves. If your pack is asking you to believe, and act in a certain way, it is ok to question that way. It does not make you a ‘bad’ member of the pack. In fact, you could be the one to lead the pack in an entirely different direction. You can still make good use of the pack, and be able to think and act on your own.

It can certainly be tempting to allow our thoughts and actions to be influenced by the pack. It is something we must stand guard against. If your pack infers, or outright says, that people of a certain group should be avoided, or worse looked down upon, because they are different, ask yourself if that is what you truly believe. In a word that seems to be growing more divided by the day, it is our pack of humanity that must learn to work together. Just like the wolves, we will survive and be more successful if we do.