Serve from Your Soul 

When my son was in the high school and wanted to test me; he would ask me jokingly, hey mom, “I’m not going to college, I’m gonna work at McDonalds, and I remember telling him seriously, that it doesn’t matter to me what you do, but if you choose to work at McDonald’s, you better be the world’s top burger flipper…. And we would laugh. Really, what we do is not important, but our happiness or misery for the rest of your life depends on WHY we do it.The term serving from your soul or heart might be new to you and might not resonate with you that well. What I mean is this: when you GIVE your best gift to the best of your ability without any expectation willingly, that is serving from your heart or soul, which is the main contributor to your happy life.I can spot happy, honest, relaxed, practical, attentive and the caring service providers who serve from their soul. They don't care about what goes on the outside and do what they can to the best of their ability willingly.

So Why all service providers are not serving from their soul?

It is because all of us have taken jobs that are not aligned with the gift that we can offer. We took the job because the pay was good or some other benefits, and that became a reason to detach ourselves from the outcome of our services. We put a stop or a limit to what we can and cannot do because our heart is not in it. 

What does serving from your soul have to do with living a happier life?

Everything. Because without it We don’t get our heart’s approval on what we do. The gap of emptiness will creep up and cause all kinds of problems with our health, career and relationships no matter how successful we are or how much money we make. But when we are serving from our soul, we are real, transparent, light and happy to make a difference with what we do no matter how big or small; important or not. We know we are giving our best to the best of our ability willingly, and that is satisfying.

What to do when you hate your job?

 Here's the two options for serving from our soul. I have done both to be here today. 1. Quitting our job and start over, and
2. If quitting is not an option, then change our perception about what we do Quitting lifestyle or job and starting over is not easy although I have done it six times. It takes time, planning and willingness to take some risks. This is the best option. But when quitting was not an option, I did the second best thing which was changing my perception about what I did. After years of working in a nice, air conditioned office, I found myself working as a cashier at a fast food restaurant in a mall. I was miserable physically and mentally. After a couple months of working 8 to 10 hours shifts, I was about to wrap up for the night when I saw my spiritual teacher pass by the restaurant. I invited him for food and a chance to talk. I told him that it was a huge mistake to buy a restaurant and complained about the long hours and the amount of work it requires. Instead of calming me down, he asked me a question which was like pouring a bucket of cold water on me…. He asked, Farima, which part of feeding about 200 hungry people every day you don’t like? I immediately told him that I didn’t think of my job in that way. My focus changed from ME to the benefit I was providing. So every day, I was going to work feeling good about feeding hungry people who would willingly pay me for it too. Getting out of my problems and my head and focusing on the value that I was providing helped me to do my job willingly for many years. 

What keeps you motivated and engaged to do what you do every day? You can share your thoughts in the comments section below. 

This was today's life lesson. Until I see you again,

Aloha!