Focus

I try to live my life in such a way as to give to others. I believe the more we have been blessed with in life, the greater our responsibility to help others who may not have those blessings. It does not make one better than the other. It is simply a part of living in community together. To me, life is about reaching out, volunteering, helping others, and giving of myself.

When I post on social media about the things I do it is not to boast or make myself look good. I do it in hopes of others being inspired to see how they can reach out to the world around them. Surely if I can do it, anyone else can. After all, I am possibly the most ordinary person around. I do it in part to help keep myself accountable. It also brings me great joy that I love sharing with others. 

There is another reason I do this. Focus. Lately however, I have been greatly distracted by personal issues that needing sorting. I allowed the things in my life to overtake my time, thoughts, and energy. Some were big things but most were rather small. What I did was roll them all up together and allow them to become one giant, overwhelming thought. I lost focus. My joy was eroded. My hope dampened.

Tonight I volunteered at Bell Tower Community Cafe. It is a cafe set up to also distribute food from Winnipeg Harvest. It is a warm, welcoming place where people can come to not only receive the gift of much needed food, they can listen to great music, enjoy home cooked food from volunteers, great coffee and tea from local businesses, and be blessed by many volunteers. 

I have been there twice. Tonight I met some people who were there for the first time. They enjoyed the evening and were amazed at how it was set up to honour them. I do not know the stories of why they were there. I just know that, at this moment, they need a little extra help. I'm not sure how many people realize they are just one mishap away from needing this help. 

Tonight, as I sat chatting with one woman who admitted to being a bit uncomfortable, I considered it a privilege to listen to her and see her relax and start to enjoy the evening. Living in poverty is tiring. Needing help can be disheartening. Yet on this evening people were rejuvenated. It was spirit lifting. It was a place where everyone could just be. They did not have to do. They just had to receive. 

It helped me refocus. I had taken my eye off of what is most important. I let what wasn't orderly in my life to overshadow the orderly. I want to continue to serve others. I can do this even with things needing to be sorted. I can still do this in the midst of uncertainty. 

I have made it through some monumental challenges in my life, some much bigger than the ones I am facing now. With my renewed focus, these challenges too will be overcome. Order, joy, and hope will be as they were before, if not better.