You can put your BODY somewhere.
You can put your TIME there.
You can even collect a PAYCHECK there.
But if your heart never arrives…
EVERYBODY EVENTUALLY KNOWS IT.
Think about this for a while.
Look around.
This is happening everywhere.
People attend college who don’t want to be there.
Some people cannot stand the place where they work.
Others agree to watch children and resent every minute of it.
Someone answers the telephone in a department and sounds irritated that you interrupted them by…calling the department!
MMM?
We see this everywhere.
People physically SHOW UP…
while something very important inside them never does.
Their HEART.
IF YOUR HEART ISN’T IN IT…
Why keep doing something when your heart has completely left it?
Now immediately come the explanations:
BUT I NEED THE MONEY.
I CAN’T FIND ANYTHING ELSE.
THE BENEFITS ARE GOOD.
I’VE BEEN HERE TOO LONG TO LEAVE.
THIS IS ONLY TEMPORARY.
Fair enough.
Life has responsibilities.
Bills don’t disappear because we discovered our passion.
Families need supporting.
Sometimes we must do things we don’t particularly enjoy.
I understand that.
But there is an important difference between doing something difficult because it is presently necessary…
and becoming permanently bitter while doing it.
If you must be there for now…
THEN BRING YOUR BEST SELF WITH YOU.
REAL ESTATE
Let’s start with Real Estate agents who are not committed for the right reasons.
Why are you in the business?
People can tell when someone wants the commission more than they want to serve the client.
They can feel it.
The heart has a peculiar way of showing itself…
AND SO DOES ITS ABSENCE.
If this profession is merely something you’re enduring while hoping money will compensate for the misery…
perhaps another honest look is required.
THE TEACHER
How about the teacher who is constantly frowning, irritated and yelling at students?
Children know.
They may not possess the vocabulary to explain it…
but they KNOW.
Teaching requires something beyond presenting information.
You are participating in somebody else’s development.
What an enormous responsibility.
If your heart has completely departed from that calling, perhaps something needs attention.
Maybe rest.
Maybe help.
Maybe a change.
Maybe rediscovering why you entered the classroom in the first place.
But don’t pretend nobody notices.
THE CHILDREN NOTICE.
FAMILY
Family members aren’t exempt.
Sometimes we go along with things while resentment quietly builds underneath.
We visit because we’re “supposed to.”
We help and then complain about helping.
We say one thing to somebody’s face and another when they leave.
We keep gossip, confusion and old grievances alive.
What exactly are we accomplishing?
If you choose to give…
GIVE.
If something needs discussing…
DISCUSS IT.
If a boundary needs establishing…
establish it honestly.
But don’t manufacture love on the outside while cultivating resentment on the inside.
The two eventually meet.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Then there is the customer service person who hates customers…
and customers eventually return the favor.
You can hear it immediately.
NO becomes their favorite word.
Helping someone appears to be an inconvenience.
Then comes the required:
“Is there anything else I can help you with?”
Help me with?
You haven’t helped me with the FIRST thing yet!
The script may be perfect.
THE MUSIC OF THE HEART IS MISSING.
People hear that music—or its absence—far more clearly than organizations sometimes realize.
EMPLOYEES
Employees…
if you do not support the place where you work, examine why.
If you must constantly be prodded, monitored and threatened into doing what somebody who cared would naturally attempt to do…
something is wrong.
Maybe it’s the workplace.
Maybe it’s management.
Maybe it’s the job.
Maybe it’s YOU.
Find out.
Needing the paycheck is understandable.
But if you need the job…
perhaps begin by behaving as though the job has some value to you while you determine your next move.
Don’t surrender your character simply because you dislike your circumstances.
EMPLOYERS…DON’T GO ANYWHERE
You’re in this Pearl too.
Management can drain the heart right out of a workplace.
Fear.
Stress.
Confusion.
Poor leadership.
No direction.
No appreciation.
Constant criticism.
Impossible expectations.
Then management looks around and asks:
WHY ISN’T ANYBODY MOTIVATED?
Really?
We recently explored this in FEAR MANAGEMENT — WATCH OUT!
People usually perform better when they are respected, trained, trusted, guided and allowed to contribute.
You can force activity.
You cannot force HEART.
Leadership should bring something OUT of people…
not beat something OUT of them.
RESTAURANT SERVERS
Restaurant servers…
you know immediately when somebody would rather be anywhere else.
The food may be wonderful.
The room may be beautiful.
But one sour interaction changes the entire experience.
And again…
perhaps that server has had a terrible day.
We are human.
Grace applies.
But when resentment becomes the permanent uniform…
something needs changing.
The server suffers.
The customer suffers.
The restaurant suffers.
Everybody is paying for somebody else’s unhappiness.
YOUR HEART IS INFORMATION
This is where I want to go a little deeper.
Your heart is telling you something.
Pay attention.
If every morning you dread where you are going…
WHY?
If something you once loved now feels empty…
WHY?
If you continuously resent the people you’re serving…
WHY?
Don’t immediately quit everything.
Don’t blow up your life because Tuesday was lousy.
OBSERVE.
Ask.
Seek.
Investigate.
Maybe you need rest.
Maybe you need a different attitude.
Maybe circumstances need changing.
Maybe YOU need changing.
Or perhaps life is quietly telling you:
THIS SEASON IS FINISHED.
DON’T CONFUSE HEART WITH EMOTION
Important.
“Follow your heart” doesn’t mean obey every feeling.
Feelings change.
We become tired.
Frustrated.
Angry.
Bored.
A meaningful calling can still contain difficult days.
Parenting can be exhausting and still filled with love.
A worthwhile career can contain aggravation.
Marriage can contain disagreement.
Service can require sacrifice.
Heart means something deeper.
Does this still agree with your conscience?
Does it have meaning?
Can you contribute?
Can you bring something worthwhile to it?
Is there still LIFE in the exchange?
Those are better questions.
THE INNER COMPASS
Throughout these Pearls we keep returning to something inside the human being that KNOWS.
Conscience.
Purpose.
The quiet inner compass.
When our outward life continuously violates what we inwardly know…
conflict develops.
You can ignore it.
You can cover it with money.
You can stay busy.
You can blame everybody around you.
But eventually…
the heart asks to be heard.
MONEY CANNOT DO EVERYTHING
Money matters.
Let’s not pretend otherwise.
But money was never designed to compensate for everything.
What price do you put on peace?
Contentment?
Purpose?
Sleeping well?
Being proud of your work?
Enjoying the people around you?
Knowing that something you did today actually helped somebody?
Money is useful.
It is a terrible substitute for meaning.
CONTRIBUTION CHANGES THINGS
Sometimes you don’t need to leave.
Sometimes you need to ARRIVE.
That’s another possibility.
Instead of asking:
WHAT AM I GETTING FROM THIS?
Try:
WHAT CAN I BRING TO THIS?
One sincere greeting.
One extra effort.
One person genuinely helped.
One problem solved.
One contribution nobody demanded.
Watch what happens.
Heart has a strange multiplying quality.
Contribution and caring IN…
contribution and caring OUT.
IF IT IS TIME TO GO…
Then perhaps go.
Responsibly.
Thoughtfully.
Prepare yourself.
Don’t burn bridges merely because you’re crossing one.
Don’t blame everybody.
Don’t make your next chapter responsible for repairing everything in your last one.
Take what you learned.
Be grateful where gratitude is due.
Then move toward something where more of YOU can participate.
IF YOU GO SOMEWHERE — GO THERE
This is my point.
If you go somewhere…
GO THERE.
Don’t merely send your body.
Bring your attention.
Bring your ability.
Bring your contribution.
Bring your decency.
Bring your curiosity.
Bring your heart.
And if you have something worthwhile to say…
SAY IT WITH YOUR HEART.
If you have something worthwhile to give…
GIVE IT WITH YOUR HEART.
If you have work worth doing…
DO IT WITH YOUR HEART.
FINAL THOUGHT
Stop merely getting by.
It isn’t good for you…
and eventually it isn’t good for the people around you.
Look honestly at how you interact with your environment.
Sometimes changing the environment changes us.
Sometimes changing US changes the environment.
And sometimes wisdom tells us it is time to move on.
But wherever you choose to be…
BE THERE.
Sourpuss in…
sourpuss out.
Contribution and caring in…
contribution and caring come out.
You choose.
And whatever you choose…
BET THE HEART.
It’s a sure win.
— Richie
Pearls for the Soul
when you feed the soul, you feed everything.
https://pearlsforthesoul.com
Been expecting you