"How May I Serve?" - An Unexpected Answer

Over the years I've been reminded to ask myself this question again. It's a wonderful open-ended question that helps free me from the tendency I sometimes (ok, often) have of trying to figure out what to do with . . . well myself in life.

- Just gotta give props to Dr. Wayne W. Dyer for the inspiration of this particular inner work, i.e. question. -

The recent answer I received when I "put the question out there" was a bit of a surprise. In fact, it took me several days to notice that I indeed received an answer.

My thought was that I would get an answer akin to the Knight in Shining Armor, riding up gallantly to deliver a message of how I can use the talents I love to practice to help his kingdom. Of course I'm wearing a lovely flowing dress and have flowers in my long, thick, wavy hair.

The answer I received caught me on an "off day" in this imaginary scene in which I was in my "cottage clothes", my hair is snarled and full of leaves and grass after I have fall on my way back from fetching water from the village well - in other words, not so elegant.

Now I see that I missed the obvious; the word "serve" itself denotes doing the dirty work. It's innately challenging.

I had an expectation that the answer to "How may I serve" would be just as good-natured as the question. Instead I was presented with a challenge; a real-life and an emotional challenge.

The lesson wasn't how to help another person- which I assumed it would be: but how I could improve in that relationship and in many others, by making a great shift inside of me.

Serving is not solely outer work -- some of the best serving is carried out by those who do a great deal of inner work.