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Be of Service

Here we discover that what we do in our daily lives matters. Each prayer, each meditation, each loving action, each small act of kindness or support makes a difference. If you could only see the energy of it you would be amazed. Think of a pebble thrown in a pond, the ripples moving outward encompassing each thing in their path, then reflecting back again. What pebbles of service can you toss into your pond today?

Love in Action is Service

11/29/2019

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“Prayer in action is love. Love in action is service.”
-Mother Teresa
 
Service is about being a channel for the energy of love into our world. Compassion, beauty, patience, support, generosity, faith, trust, all these and more are expressions of love.

Creating a home that welcomes and evokes love is service.

A mother, enthusiastically admiring a six year old's umpteenth building blocks rendition of something with wings, is service.

A friend’s wondrous gardens, filled with love, are service.

My sister-in-law's paintings, each created with love, are service.

My husband’s giving of support to others for no reason other than that he is able, is service.

My soul sister clearing out all the old fears so that her authentic self may stride forward is service.

Giving someone your full attention when you speak to them, rather than listening with, ‘half an ear,’ is service.

A ministry filled with love for God and congregation is service.

A smile and a “thank you” of real appreciation for the clerk at the store is service.

Any thought, word or action carried on the energy of love is service.

Service is the act of living each day with love. In so doing, love is channeled through you into our world.

It can be a single thought or a mighty deed. It is all service.
Photo by Alex Block on Unsplash
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"We will never know how much good just a simple smile can do."
-Mother Teresa

Your Spiritual Toolbox

As much as possible today, be of service by doing whatever you do with love.

Understand that it is your attitude which makes the difference.

Approach what you do asking yourself, “How may I serve our world in what I do today?"

Here are some ideas:

Slow down.

Fully focus your attention on what you are doing in each moment.  Stay present.

Feel appreciation for any aspects of what you are doing that you can. Focus your thoughts upon those positive aspects to the exclusion of anything that you find less attractive.

Pay attention to those people with whom you interact. Really listen to them. Focus on those aspects about them that you appreciate. Express gratitude out loud when you can, or when you can't, express gratitude  in your thoughts.

Even with those people about whom you feel more negative than positive, it is possible to be of service by mentally offering that person a blessing.

​This works wonders for maintaining your own equilibrium with that snippy waitress, or the cranky person behind you in line. For example, thinking, “May you be blessed with peace,” or "wisdom" or "compassion," whatever feels appropriate at the moment. It’s OK to give yourself a blessing too!

Slow down. Breathe. Be fully present. Feel appreciation. Express gratitude. Be a blessing to others and to yourself. These are the tools of love in action.
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Making a Difference

7/27/2019

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“We rise by lifting others.”
Robert Ingersoll
 
Goldie, my yellow lab, and I, along with several other dogs, visited a Life-Skills class awhile back so that disabled young people might have the opportunity to get comfortable with dogs.

One particular young man in the class approached her cautiously, hooded eyes focused on her intently. His Life-Skills instructor stood off to the right and asked him,

“Steve, what’s the first thing you have to do?”

He shifted his eyes to look at me, round face serious as he struggled to form the words.

“May I pat your dog?”

“Sure!” I answered, “Goldie loves to meet people.”

Goldie sat in front of him, her tail wagging, doggie smile on her face and ears sweetly back as she gazed up at him. He slowly reached his fisted hand down toward her to smell, as he had been taught. She gave his hand a sniff and looked at him for what else he might offer, tail wagging. He opened his fingers and gave her a tentative scratch under her chin, then turned his hand over to stroke the top of her head. To my right I heard a sudden intake of breath.

“That’s the first time he has been willing to touch a dog!” said his instructor in an excited whisper.

Goldie lay down then, sniffing at Steve’s sneaker-clad feet, her attention focused on him. His hand followed her down, a smile on his face, and he continued gently stroking her head and then her paws.

“Goldie likes gentle pats just like you’re doing, Steve. Good job!” I said.

“He’s smiling, right?” asked his instructor quietly.

“He is!” I said, feeling great.

That’s why Goldie and I were there. That day we made a difference in someone’s life. 
Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

Your Spiritual Toolbox

You don’t need to have a friendly dog in your life to make a difference for others. There are so many ways to reach out, to be of service. Volunteering for a non-profit you believe in is one way to get involved and make a difference. Or, if you’d rather, you don’t have to formalize it in this way.
​
Making a difference is an attitude first, then an action.

It doesn’t take much. Stay alert to ways you might make a difference. Sometimes all it takes is a kind word or a smile, letting someone know they matter.

When you have an attitude of service the pay back to you is big because it feels great.

With each small action, you make our world just a little kinder, a little more loving.     
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A Very Short Story

7/5/2019

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One Woman's Joy

​The woman, still wearing her pajamas, stood back and looked with pleasure upon the mud room area she had just installed on the garage wall.

Two white benches with chrome shelving underneath for shoes and boots fit nicely into the space next to the door leading to the kitchen. Two shelving units hung securely above and to the right with hooks for jackets. Green plastic bins lined up along the shelves for hats, gloves and scarfs.

She had even hung a couple of pretty pictures on the left side of the wall over the benches balancing the shelves.

 “It looks great!” She said aloud, though as far as she knew she was the only one in the garage. “Good job, You.”

She then made several trips back and forth into the house collecting armloads of shoes, boots, jackets, hats, gloves and scarves and putting them away neatly in their new home.

Then, taking a last satisfied look at her completed project she walked back into the kitchen ready for a cup of tea and a sit down.

"I wonder," she thought, as she held the steaming cup in her hand and looked out the patio doors into the backyard, "How is it that I get such pleasure from organizing and decorating my home?"

She thought back over the last four months and how much time and effort she had put into making her home attractive and welcoming.

"Shouldn’t I be doing something more important with my time? Something that makes a difference for others?"

She allowed her thoughts to drift, enjoying the warmth of the cup in her hands and the soothing aroma of chamomile.

She thought of the friends who frequently gathered in her home, the groups, workshops and parties. She thought of the holiday celebrations. She thought of her children playing happily in the yard. She thought of her family from near and far who so often filled her home.

She realized that the love she expressed in her home was rippling outward and benefiting others.

​With a smile and a contented sigh, she understood that what is joyful is our path of service.
Photo by Amanda Lins on Unsplash
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Dancing With Life

5/17/2019

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"To dance is to be in tune with the steps of life."
- Sasha Azevedo

The natural rhythms of the creative energy are slower and more focused than the rhythm of life most of us have been taught.

Watch the animals, they are finely attuned to the natural rhythm of the creative life force in Nature. They have to be, it is how they survive. The animals take time for focused effort, focused play and focused rest. They do one thing at a time. If they are distracted from that for whatever reason, then they wholly focus upon the distraction.

Watch a small child at play, you will see the same kind of focus. It is as if there is nothing in the world but what they are doing at that moment.

I’ve tried to hurry my 3-year-old grandson through what he was doing so that we could move on to something else. It was an exercise in frustration. He knew where the flow of energy was in what he was doing. I didn’t, and I just had to be patient while he finished up.

At three years old my grandson has yet to be acculturated into society's rhythm. We go, go, go, work harder, play harder. We feel like time’s a wasting, and rest only when absolutely necessary. I could hope that he would never have to unlearn what he innately knows. Yet, to fit into the flow of our society most of us have unlearned what we innately knew as children.

The natural rhythm of the creative life force is like a gentle music that surrounds us. We are swimming in an ocean of energy. The energy has rhythm just as the ocean waves do. Our bodies are naturally attuned to this energy.

We often are not consciously aware of the rhythm because we have been trained out of it. Our bodies have not been trained out of it however, and are very much aware of it. We are influenced by the rhythm whether we know it consciously or not.

Have you ever tried to dance to music where you couldn’t quite get the rhythm? I have, just recently in fact. It was hard work. I couldn’t get my feet to follow the rhythm of the music. The steps I was doing were too slow, the music was too fast. I felt frustratingly out of step as I stumbled along.

When you dance off the beat, you not only have to do the physical work of the dance, you have to do the work of competing with the rhythm. But when you get it right, when you dance on the beat, the rhythm of the music moves you along, carrying you. Your body flows through the physical work of the dance.

Living in self or other-imposed rhythm rather than flowing with the rhythm of the creative life force energy is hard work. It is like dancing off the beat. You have to do the work of living itself and you have to compete with the natural rhythm of the creative life force.

Life is exhausting this way. It is no wonder that as our lives become more technologically advanced with society valuing achievement above all else and always the pressure to go, go, go, there is an increase in illnesses of exhaustion like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and autoimmune disease.

We are forcing ourselves to work against what our bodies know to be the natural rhythm of the creative life force energy. Why do we want to work so hard at living?

It doesn’t have to be this way. You can choose to learn again how to listen to and dance with the natural rhythms. You knew how to do this as a child. You can remember.

Try this. Put on some good dance music with a strong beat. Stand still and feel the rhythm. How does it feel as the rhythm moves through your body? It’s hard to keep your body still, isn’t it?

Now allow your body to move any way it wants with the rhythm, even if it’s just tapping your toes. Dance if you want. Whatever feels good. Notice how that feels in your body. Does it feel good? Is there flow? Is it hard or easy?

This is what it’s like living within the flow of the creative life force.

Next, see if you can move your body off the rhythm. Perhaps try clapping your hands intentionally off the beat. How does that feel? It may feel awkward and even difficult to do.

This is what it’s like trying to live within your own or other-imposed rhythm. It’s like paddling upstream against the water flowing downstream.

Last, allow your body to move with the rhythm again, on the beat, and notice the feeling of relief and ease.

There is ease and relief when you flow with the natural energies of the creative life force. It is like turning your canoe to flow with the current downstream.

As you live within the flow of the creative life energy you have a positive effect on others. We are all of us linked like a circle of dancers. One dancer, dancing in rhythm affects those dancing nearby. Those nearby will be pulled onto the beat. They in turn will affect those near them and it ripples outward from there.

As each of us dances to the beat of the creative life force energy, allowing it to support and carry us within its flow, we support others to do so.
​
May you dance with joy!
Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

Your Spiritual Toolbox

​What is required to live within the flow of creative life force energy is your intent and willingness to focus fully upon one thing at a time.

When you give what you are doing your full attention, you slow down, and connect with the creative life force energy.

It doesn’t matter what you are doing. What matters is how you do it.

Today, do whatever you do with fully focused attention. Make whatever you are doing the most important thing you can do for that moment.

That means that you do what you do without any resistance; you are totally focused on what you are doing.

Even if you just playing a game on your phone you are doing it 100%. You are not worrying over the bill that you have to pay later. You are not planning your next blog post or what to have for dinner. You are focused entirely on those silly birds hopping across your phone screen, just as a child would be.

If instead you are paying your electric bill, focus fully upon doing so without resistance to sending off that money.

Allow the flow of energy.

As you do what you do fully, with focus and without resistance, the creative life force energy will carry you and you will experience increasing ease, flow and grace with each day.

​What’s more you become an energetic catalyst for others to do the same. 
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Service with a Smile

4/2/2019

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Cooking can be more than a necessity. It can be more than a hobby or an avocation. Cooking with love can be part of a spiritual practice, because cooking is one way to bring more love into the world.

There is something special about donning an apron, putting on flowing music, clearing the sink and counters, gathering ingredients from pantry and refrigerator, and setting the scene. It starts to bring you into focus.

Then the food preparation and cooking presents a banquet for the senses, all the colors and shapes, the smells and textures. A crisp bite of juicy red pepper, the fresh, green smell of garden kale that wafts upward as you slice it for salad, the deep flavors and aromas of chocolate, vanilla and almond, all vying for attention demanding that you focus upon them. It is a sensual experience that can narrow your scattered thoughts, pulling your attention away from worries over past or future and bringing you to a place of serenity and flow.

And it doesn't have to be cooking. I believe anything done with love is a spiritual practice. Just imagine spending an entire day flowing from one activity to another, each one a spiritual practice of gentle focus and attention, channeling more and more love into the world. It is my aspiration.

​For today, however, I think I’ll start in the kitchen. Those juicy, red raspberries are calling me.


Photo by Alexander Mils on Unsplash 

Your Spiritual Toolbox

Is there something that you do frequently that is naturally meditative? Something you enjoy that asks for your full attention?

A favorite hobby is a perfect place to start.
​
Today, set the scene.

First, clear the area you will be in. A clean, uncluttered workspace is inspiring.

Next, put on some inspiring, instrumental music. Pick something you love, and that will encourage you to internalize.

Gather any materials you need and lay them out enticingly.

Now focus your attention fully upon what you are doing.

Go for the flow.

​As you do so you are channeling more love into our world.
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The Greatest Service

1/4/2019

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"Your own Self-Realization is the greatest service you can render the world.”
 Ramana Maharshi
 
The snow had been falling heavily all night. Waking at 6 am I took my tea to sit before the window. I looked out at the bird feeder that I had filled just yesterday, now covered with snow. My thoughts turned inward even as my eyes remained watching the snow sifting down upon the feeder.
 
How, I wondered, can I continue to pursue my individual quest for spiritual development, benefiting only myself, when I want to be of service in this world?  As always, my questions became prayers and I asked God.
 
The snow blew past the window, a beautiful, wintry scene. A small gray and white junco landed on the feeder. I was surprised to see him there, they are naturally ground feeders. He hopped about, then chose one spot and scratched the snow away, revealing the seeds underneath. He scratched and the snow flew off.  He ate.  He sat for a long while undisturbed and fed.

​Deep in my ponderings I took note of his activities with mild interest. He flew off, leaving the safety of the feeder. Shortly after he left, a chickadee flew in, grabbed a seed from the hole the junco had dug, and flew off. Then, another chickadee did the same. A tufted titmouse followed suit, taking one seed and flying to a nearby branch to eat it. Then a white-breasted nuthatch flew to the edge of the feeder, hung upside down for a moment, clambered over the edge, took a seed and flew off. The birds kept coming, one at a time, each taking a seed from the space cleared by the junco.
 
How interesting, I thought, just by doing his own thing, the junco has provided a service for others. The lights went on inside with a feeling of excitement. The junco knew instinctively how to dig for his food, as he did so he cleared the way for the others.
 
We too can dig deep, opening to Spirit, and thereby make the nourishment of Spirit accessible to others. We too, in doing what our hearts need and love to do can be of service. 

Photo credit Lisa de Leon 

Your Spiritual Toolbox

God/Spirit/Higher Self is always available to answer your questions.

When you have a question turn it into a prayer and ask for clarity and guidance. Then relax and have faith that your question will be answered.

Stay alert, guidance comes in many different forms. It may even come as a symbolic message encoded in what is going on around you, like a small junco at a birdfeeder.  
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Have a Daily Practice

10/16/2018

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“Every morning when I wake up, I read a little spiritual passage, I keep them next to my bed. I just pick one up and start the day reading a little quote or something like that, and it starts me remembering what the game is about, it reminds me.”
Ram Dass  

Most of us have some sort of daily home maintenance routine. Washing the dishes, doing the laundry, preparing food, that sort of thing. Most of us have some sort of daily personal care routine, whatever that may be for the individual. These routines allow us to function in our lives with an environment that supports us.

But how many of us have spiritual care routines?

These are short, daily practices that support us to be in alignment with our spirits, reminding us of what’s important.

Maybe like me, you do have spiritual practices that you use only sporadically when you remember them. Or perhaps, also like me, you start a spiritual practice only to forget about it when things get busy.

This time, let’s decide to serve ourselves with simple, daily spiritual practices, so easy that we have to go out of our way to avoid them!

Let's choose practices we enjoy and make a commitment to serve ourselves in this way. As we do so we fill ourselves giving us what we need to be available to serve others. 


Photo by Emmanuel Phaeton on Unsplash

Your Spiritual Toolbox

What can you do for yourself today that supports you spiritually?

​Choose something that takes no more than 10 minutes, and do it first thing in the morning. If you make it something that is part of your bedroom environment it will be even easier to remember.

Here are some ideas.

Frame an inspiring quotation and hang it where you will see it first thing in the morning. Read it to yourself every morning before you even get out of bed.

Choose an inspiring spiritual picture that reminds you of the love of Spirit. Hang it where you will see it first thing in the morning when you open your eyes. Rest quietly allowing yourself to feel that love. 

Memorize a favorite prayer or positive affirmation and repeat it with the support of mala beads that you keep in sight on your bedside table.

Commit to serving yourself in this way every day for 21 days. As you do so you will form a positive habit of spiritual practice aligning with your spirit first thing in the morning.
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    "Love is service."

    - Mother Teresa

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​All materials provided on www.hollyhildreth.com are provided for informational, educational and entertainment purposes only and are not intended to be, or serve as a substitute for, professional medical/psychological advice, examination, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical or psychological condition.
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© Holly Hildreth
  • Welcome
  • Blog
  • Savor the Sweetness
  • Be of Service
  • Know Thyself
  • Follow Your Bliss
  • Play
  • Be Content
  • Trust God
  • Faster Emotional Freedom Technique-V