Welcome to my thoughts on Living with Joy, Purpose, and Conscious Choice.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

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Here, I share my thoughts on spiritual power, relationships, simple living, managing stress, work-life balance, career decisions, money, politics, the environment, and much more.

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Tuesday, October 29, 2013

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How Helping Others Helps You

A reader's question: Dear Jonathan, Can you please explain in simple words what this quote is trying to convey?

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life,
that no man can sincerely try
to help another without helping himself.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson


My answer:

If you help other people, your life becomes happier and more fulfilling.

There are three reasons for this:

1. Most immediately, the act of helping another provides a sense of your own value, which directly makes you happier and more fulfilled.

2. Other people will see you as a worthwhile and moral person, and will be more likely to help you get what you want.

3. If you believe in a kind and compassionate God, or in a universal intelligence, or in karma, you know that there is a force that rewards good actions.



As we work to create light for others,
we naturally light our own way.
- Mary Anne Radmacher


See more quotes about service



Saturday, October 26, 2013

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The Oak and the Reeds


The Oak and the Reeds
a fable by Aesop

A Giant Oak stood near a brook in which grew some slender Reeds. When the wind blew, the great Oak stood proudly upright with its hundred arms uplifted to the sky. But the Reeds bowed low in the wind and sang a sad and mournful song.

"You have reason to complain," said the Oak. "The slightest breeze that ruffles the surface of the water makes you bow your heads, while I, the mighty Oak, stand upright and firm before the howling tempest."

"Do not worry about us," replied the Reeds. "The winds do not harm us. We bow before them and so we do not break. You, in all your pride and strength, have so far resisted their blows. But the end is coming."

As the Reeds spoke a great hurricane rushed out of the north. The Oak stood proudly and fought against the storm, while the yielding Reeds bowed low. The wind redoubled in fury, and all at once the great tree fell, torn up by the roots, and lay among the pitying Reeds.

Moral: Better to yield when it is folly to resist, than to resist stubbornly and be destroyed.