Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – Be Grounded in Something

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Doing your Best, Expertise, God, Grounded, Harold Klemp, Paying attention, spirituality

“Become an expert in something. You need to be grounded in something. When you do something for God, for the highest principle, you do each step until it sings.”

—Harold Klemp, The Language of Soul

When I first joined the Army back in the early 80s, my first few years were tough. I was going through the motions, doing all I could to stay out of trouble, but my heart wasn’t in it. I was in this organization 24 hours a day and wasn’t really doing all I could to do my best.

I thought about that one weekend and decided to change things up. I said to myself, “You’re here. You might as well make the best of it and do the best you can at anything the Army asks you to do.” It was hard at first.

Then, as I began to gain some pride in myself, I began feeling good about my uniform, my room, my equipment. I began to put even more effort into the service. I began reading military history, started exercising in the base gym, began reading regulations, field manuals, anything I could get my hands on. You know what? My life in the Army transformed. I actually began to enjoy the service I volunteered for. The remaining 18 years was a joy.

I’m not sure if other veterans can relate, but I’m pretty sure that a great many followed the same path I did. They realized that they were here, anyway. Why not do your best with the time you have?

That lesson led to many other experiences and taught me something. It’s better to do the best you can on any job, than half-ass it. You feel great when you do a good job. You feel great when you develop expertise in something. The people around you notice too. They will approach you to help them. They will ask you how you got good at it. They will notice.

I enjoy writing. I enjoy learning. I enjoy programming. I enjoy exercise. I enjoy my spiritual path. In each of these areas and many others I do my best. I do the best I can.

The moral of this posting is this: We can all be lazy and do the bare minimum. That’s easy. If this is you, try something different. Try putting all you have into each task, whether it’s making your bed, folding your laundry, or taking out the trash. Take your time, do the best job you can do. Then, when you’re done, take a minute and think about how you feel. It’s a great feeling when you know you did your best. It feels even better when you decide to do your best for God. Then, it takes on a whole new meaning.

Do everything until it sings.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – Paying Attention

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Color, Enjoying the Details, Fall, Getting out, Mindfulness, Paying attention, Smell, Sounds, Texture, Walking

I recently began a habit of getting out of the house away from my writing and other work to walk, go to the gym, get lunch somewhere, or run an errand. The purpose behind these excursions is to interact with people. We meet people all day. We meet with folks running a cash register. We meet people that are in the same place we are shopping or eating or getting their cup of coffee.

I smile at people or strike up a simple conversation about what they are eating or what they have in their cart. Simple conversations, but nice to smile and interact. I enjoy these little outings. It brings some variety to my day and allows me to serve others.

When I am out, I pay attention to things, like the hue of the store. I pay attention to the people that are walking about. I pay attention to the smells and sounds. When you really pay attention to what you are doing and where you are, the experience is dramatically different from walking through a store unconsciously merely to get our product and walk back out.

 

 

I started a regimen this week of walking after I eat a meal. I walk for about 10 minutes just to settle the stomach and think. Today, I saw the most beautiful colors in the trees. Two kids went by. One riding a bike; the other on a skateboard. I remembered when I was a kid in this neighborhood, playing hockey, baseball, hide and seek, all of it. There is something magical about growing up in a neighborhood like mine, particularly when the leaves start to turn.

Pay attention to the little things. The colors, sounds, smells, and textures. It makes a huge difference in all you do. I wish you a terrific Saturday.

Until next time…

Dave