How can I be of greatest assistance, help or service is a question that I often ask myself. Very often the answer is not as clear or straight forward as I might like. This really is a much more complicated inquiry usually than what usually presents itself as the very first answer. Then of course there are other times when the very first answer that presents itself is exactly the correct one!
Usually successfully helping another person is dependent on a wide array of factors, circumstances, probabilities and patterns of behavior. Some variables that need to be taken into consideration are old habits, how long the problem or concern has been emotionally or physically manifested, other work that has been done or received to address it. Another prime factor is the overall attitude and willingness for change to take place that the person has requesting the help. All in all there are a whole lot of moving parts that one has very little, if any, control or influence over in the desire and attempt to helpfully assist somebody else.
Sometimes the absolute best that can be done is to offer another piece in the bridge that is metaphorically being built to reach the desired goal. This can be a crucial piece that without it nothing will happen in the future to resolve the issue or concern. If you think of building a bridge from one side of a stream to another, the pieces in the middle and every piece leading up to the very end piece is vital. How many pieces in this metaphorical bridge are needed for a particular individual to get to the distant shore is almost always unknown.
Often when offering this crucial piece that is just a piece in the construction of the bridge to its end point, the person receiving it may feel little or nothing has happened or changed regarding their pressing concern. Maybe the next session or a session by someone else, or through their own personal work, the challenge or pressing concern can be resolved or shifted in a very tangible and positive way. When this last piece of the bridge is put in place then there is usually a big feeling sense of shift and change and the individual thinks whatever was just before it is what made it all happen.
This, of course, is not true as each and every piece that came before, and sometimes long before, the very last one were is just as necessary and crucial to the whole success of the process.
Let’s all be more conscious about each and every piece that gets put into place allowing us to bridge from where we are now across some wide divide or rushing stream to that place where we are able to feel, to know or have a sense of a completion point. Becoming more conscious is an art, a study and lifelong process. There are so many tools available to us and wonderful people willing to assist us in this endeavor. There is great creativity, joy, love, pleasures, surprises and beauty available for us all to savor and appreciate in the little pieces the little steps during all our life movements.
We are all on an amazing journey and often it seems we are going forward blindfolded as to where we are really going, how we are going to get there and what will best get us there. In one sense there is no “there” it is just the journey that really matters. How we go about this journey, the love we can share, the beauty we may be able to create or appreciate and the help we can give our fellow travelers is really what it is all about.
Wishing you a most wonderful change of seasons, plenty of rest and rejuvenation along your journey and the many paths you may choose to take during this time.
In Light, Love & Service,
Adama
