"Do small things with great love." ~ Mother Teresa

I was touched by a recent story of a man in India who changed his life to tend those in need. Do you feel like something needs doing in the world? Is there an idea you have? A cool gizmo to invent? A service you think should exist? An idea/issue/poem/creation to write about?

Why wait. Who else will do this thing? Why not YOU?

What little steps can you take in doingness? The late Susan Jeffers, wrote a book that changed the way I proceed in life, Feel the Fear, And Do It Anyway. I thought that other people do interesting things because they are somehow fundamentally different than I am. If only (one of those limiting “speech words”) I was like those people, then maybe I could do wonderful things too :) Jeffers’ book suggests to us that that is not the case. These “special” people are not really fearless; they are as afraid as we are! It is just that they decided “to heck with it” and they did it anyway! This does not mean, throwing all caution to the wind and acting carelessly. It just means that after due planning, patience and deliberation-- at some point, we must take the risk to act.

Benjamin and Rosamund Zander (Benjamin is conductor of the Boston Symphony and Rosamund is a psychotherapist) suggest we “declare ourselves a contribution.” They say “throw yourself into life as someone who makes a difference.” Accept that you may or may not succeed. However, surely if you do not attempt then you will not succeed for sure!

So the practice this week is to find little ways to do things that you may find a bit scary. Declare yourself worthy. What will you try? What will you create? What relationship will you cultivate or confront? The key may be simply to have the courage to as Mother Teresa said "do small things with great love."

In Practice with you

~Jan