January 04 – Flowing Faith-fully: Start the day today by “randomly” choosing a number, a color, and a direction (“left” is as good as “north”). Then, at the time of day of your choosing, set off for one hour and only walk towards/with one of these three “signposts”. At the end of the hour, have Faith (again, regardless of your particular religious beliefs of lack thereof) that you have something Important to Do at the location at which you have arrived. Look for a way to Serve someone nearby (anonymously is best) … Once that Service is rendered, head back.

This one proved to be interesting indeed. As requested, I “randomly” chose a number, a color and a direction before setting off. And I did so by harmonizing my choices with the “Mossway Calendar”, which happens to give every day of the year its own number & color. Well, the number for January 4^th in that Calendar is eight (8) and the color is purple. Now anyone who’s ever walked in the woods in the wintertime knows that there really isn’t much purple to be seen, and I didn’t find any groups of eight either. I considered picking a new set of “signposts”, but decided to just go forth and see what happened. With Nooka (my dog) along for the adventure, we set out to stroll spontaneously (something she’s already quite good at).

The directions I had chosen were “right”, with a backup of “east”. Seeing as how I was already without two of my three “guides”, I decided to help the activity by setting out along the trail that follows a creek in the westernmost portion of the property. Of course, choosing “right” or “east” every time I came to a path-crossing had me essentially walking in one big circle for an hour. When our time was up, I stopped and looked around for someone or something to serve. It was clear from the get-go that this task was going to be difficult to do on the farm, and yet I didn’t understand just how difficult until this moment.

“There’s nothing to do here.”, whispered my ego as I looked around. Sure enough, Nooka & I were in a section of the woods that I had already “spruced” several weeks before. There really was very little to Do. It certainly seemed like I needed to head elsewhere and/or choose a new set of guides.

Then I realized that I was succumbing to the “old way” of looking at my life (both regarding spontaneity & regarding service) — a way that told me …

that I needed to “go somewhere else” to serve,

that I needed to do something “amazing” once I got there,

and that if I couldn’t find anything “good enough” to do there, I had to start over elsewhere.

And yet, true spontaneity isn’t about just moving about.

Nor is it about merely “taking it easy” or “going with the flow”.

It’s not about simply moving slowly & smoothly (though that is nice).

Nor is it even about being conscious of where you are (and that is wise as well).

No, real spontaneity was something entirely different.  I realized at that moment that indeed it didn’t matter where I was or where I was going.  There was always something truly important to do in every place I already was.

And all I had to do to perceive this opportunity was –

first, put on a “fresh perspective” (a mentality that cherishes the smallest act of Kindness over the grandest “personal achievement”),

second, immerse my self in the Here&Now (we have to really feel where we are),

third, look closely at my surroundings and find someplace (anywhere) to beautify, something (anything) to assist or someone (anyone) to Love,

fourth, do that Kind deed — and put all my Love into it.

With this epiphany in mind, I looked down and I realized that Nooka was right next to me, waiting patiently for a belly rub.  She had actually been right next to me all day … There had been no need to go looking for an opportunity to serve at all.

The opportunity was right next to me the whole time.

It always is …

See You when I see you …

… and until then, Be Now!

Scaughdt

Filed under: 366 Days of Kindness by Scaughdt