Earn it!
We work our entire lives that we may sleep restfully, yet the more we gain from our work the less we are able to sleep. We seek physical assurances that we’ll have what we think we’ll need tomorrow or in many other cases, that we’ll have what we desire come tomorrow. Yet, the more things we have, the more things we will worry about losing, including sleep. We’ve become so regimented in these productive efforts that our worldly desires have become perfectly aligned with our work ethic, rather than our needs. “If you want something, go out and earn it”. This short instructive mantra has been passed on and repeated for so many generations that it has taken on the look of a commandment, yet in truth it’s commonly misinterpreted. The “go out and earn it” part has been more often interpreted to mean get a job, earn money and procure the “it” of one’s momentary fascination or desire. However, if the “it” is a “someone” or an “emotion” the earning takes on a set of totally different characteristics.
If you’re interested in procuring a friend or love interest, you absolutely can’t buy “it” but you might well still be able to earn “it”. These more important desires or actual human needs serve to challenge the heart rather than the muscle of our resources. We really must give before we can expect to receive. Such giving includes love, support, caring, respect and I strongly believe that it must include a healthy dose of admiration. Lacking admiration, respect has no staying power. Lacking respect, love has no foundation. Lacking love, caring and support simply cease to exist.
These are the simple lessons that God has been trying to teach us for thousands of years. So what’s involved in earning love?
Giving it. How can we expect to get love and all of it’s entitlements if we can’t first give it? When there is someone standing quietly in the background, offering love, while expecting nothing more in return than acknowledgement, it should be nearly impossible for the heart to ignore that presence. It should be easy for the intellect to grasp, it should be the winning lottery of life. But for many it isn’t because we remain overly focused on today and tomorrow’s fabricated needs and wants. If you want love, give love. If you want support, offer support. If you want respect, earn it by offering respect. If you want a life overflowing with these emotionally returned blessings; love, respect, admire and thank the real author, God, every day for his gift of life and his offer of everlasting life by caring enough to simply acknowledge him. That is your starting place, once you open your heart and life to him, he’ll help you do the rest. With that you’ll find your peaceful sleep and awakening that has been so elusive.
JC CALKINS with COMMON SENSE 4 UNCOMMON PEOPLE
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