Tag Archives: Altruism

What Does It Mean To Shine?

That’s the title of a glossy brochure that I received last week from my alma mater – the University of Lethbridge in Alberta.  I was shocked that the word was showing up in mainstream society.

During my meditation retreat, I met several people who were shining.  Their hearts were open and our world was richer for it.  I sat near the back of the meditation hall and I could feel these folks, whether they were teachers or yogis, sitting near or far.  So spacious, so present in the moment, so loving.

On the arm of my man chair sit the words from U of L.  Here are some samples:

It’s a glowing passion, for work and for play.  It’s the spark of creativity and discovery … U of L alumni like you are illuminating the world.

Sometimes I imagine human beings as lamps.  Some folks seem to have the light mostly turned off.  Some operate with a dimmer switch.  Others radiate, nothing held back.

And from individual graduates:

My parents were lifelong proponents of combining skills plus opportunities with hard work for the benefit of other people.  I think people who do that shine.

That’s the key, I believe.  It’s all for others.  It’s all love.

When you’re confident and doing what you love, you shine.  I’m shining when I’m teaching aboriginal studies to my students.  They inspire me to be my best.

To surround yourself with marvelous people.  Then it’s easy to shine.

When someone shines, they have a certain confidence to them – they are happy in what they are doing and with their life – and it’s contagious.

Other folks notice, even from a distance.  And are moved.  And begin to cast light themselves.

For me, to shine means … to leave this world better than when you entered it.

Yes.  Let’s all do this.  In large and small ways.  We matter when we look outwards with love.

For me, to shine means to be fully present – not just in music, but in life.

Moment upon moment … whenever I’m with another human being.  Whether they feel me or not.  May they feel something sweet hovering nearby.

 

 

 

Altruism

“An attitude or way of behaving marked by unselfish concern for the welfare of others”

T.S. was at a London Monarch baseball game in Ontario with his 8-year-old son.  A foul ball was hit into the crowd.  It bounced and landed right in T.S.’s hands.  His son was thrilled when T.S. handed him the ball, but they heard a little girl crying, and realized that the ball had bounced off her foot.  The son asked his father to give the ball to the girl.  “I gave him a hug and told him that was a really nice thing to do.”

And more:

1.  A man walks around downtown London with a bunch of quarters in his pocket.  He plugs parking meters that are about to expire.

2.  A young girl tells her parents that she dropped a ceramic mug on the floor, to protect the person really responsible – her little brother.

3.  A 9-year-old boy looking for help after his mother crashed their van in the southern Arizona desert was rescued by a man entering the U.S. illegally, who stayed with him until help arrived the next day.

4.  We learned that 38 men – blacksmiths, professors, construction workers, students – can co-exist day after day in a 3-metre-by-10-metre cell with grace and humour and kindness.

5.  A man had made an impulsive purchase of a home entertainment system. He soon realized that it was a bad decision and tried to sell it on the Internet. He got a few offers, but they were all really low.  The man was getting depressed.  A friend of his offered to give him $2500 to top up the latest offer.  The system was sold.

6.  On an outdoor education trip in the Rockies, one member of the group developed hypothermia.  Her three friends took turns crawling into a sleeping bag with her.  Her temperature rose.  She survived.

7.  A 14-year-old boy had horrible acne.  Most of his friends retreated.  One girl moved towards him, always looking him in the eye, and including him in activities.

8.  A personal support worker who serves a cancer patient, upon hearing that she has been taken to a hospital, immediately phones the woman’s husband, wanting to visit.

9.  At parties, a woman always looks for anyone who seems left out, and goes over to spend time with them, in an expression of relationship, not pity.

10.  Despite the suffering and atrocities that his people have been and are subjected to, the Dalai Lama holds no anger toward the Chinese, believing they are “misguided people”.  Ingram describes the Dalai Lama’s attitude as “one of incredible kindness, even toward the Chinese Government, who would like him dead”.  He describes the Chinese as “my friends, the enemy”.