Do For You!

I was all set to write a post about this probiotic yogurt I've been making lately.  I took a picture of it this morning in preparation for my post this evening as well as brainstormed some of the benefits of healthy gut flora I wanted to share with you all!  Well, the events of my day inspired me to write about something else.  The probiotic post will come but today I want to write about doing for you!

What do I mean?

Do, or act, with no other incentive but to please yourself!  This is to say, do things for the sheer reason of making yourself feel good.  It's, of course, wonderful to do things for others, or to do things that you think will earn you approval or accolade, but if we set out to do things with expectations and those expectations aren't met, we are left feeling discouraged, sad, unworthy, incapable, etc.

The list goes on.

And while the other person (or persons) whom you were initially trying to please will be unaware of your now discouraged/saddened/what have you state, YOU are aware.  You are left with those negative feelings.  You cannot control outcomes, nor can you control the feelings of others, but you can control your own.  When you let others dictate your happiness, consciously or unconsciously, you are relinquishing control.  When you act out of the hope of pleasing someone else, you are setting yourself up for potential let-down.

So, please, I invite you to commit to doing whatever it is you do with no other incentive but to please yourself in that present moment.  Do things blissfully and with no expectations.  Do for you!

Pick up that piece of trash in the elevator, not with the hopes that someone will see you doing it and praise your actions, but because it's the right thing to do and will make YOU feel good.  Compliment your coworker's blouse, not with the hopes that she will reciprocate by telling you she likes yours, but because you know it will make her feel good, which, in turn will make YOU feel good.  Commit to posting to your blog, not with the hopes that it will be recognized by some huge company who wants to hire you on, but because it touches and helps people, some of whom you're not even aware.

When you proceed through life acting--living--from a place with no expectations, you take total control of your own emotions.  Others' emotions or reactions are out of your grasp but yours belong to you and you alone.  Those you do have power over.  You can choose happiness, bliss, contentment, misery, sadness, hatred, joy, dissatisfaction, etc., and having choice, even over negative feelings, is a pretty cool thing...because it's your own.

With love, light and happiness,