The third rule that Hubby and I live by is “blessings are undeserved”. Now, I know that this explanation is not going to sit well with everyone who reads this post. No problem! You are most welcome to disagree with me; however this is how we choose to live.
So. Blessings. Undeserved. As my friend Raymond asked in the comments of part one, what does that mean?
Well, it’s very simple. I am not better than anyone else. I live in a very nice home, have clothes to wear and food to eat. That is not the case for millions of individuals on this planet. Take for example Haiti. Rampant crime, abject poverty, and then several months ago they suffered an earthquake of epic proportions. (Has the world even thought about Haiti much recently? I haven’t seen any headlines.)
And yet, people are suffering there. While I’m living in comparative luxury here. “Blessings are undeserved” means that I understand that there is NOTHING that I have done to deserve such a wonderful life. I could have been born into a country as poor as Haiti. I was not. This was not of my own doing (and I think even Law of Attraction proponents can agree with me on this particular point).
Do I in any way deserve an easier existence than someone else on this planet? No. Anything I get is because God has decided to bless me; it’s not for anything I’ve done or any kind of superiority I have to anyone else.
How does this help with happiness? For starters, realizing that blessings are undeserved helps me maintain an attitude of humility and avoid thoughts of entitlement. If I don’t think I’m entitled to things in life, then I can’t get upset if I don’t get them.
Instead, I can be content with what I’ve got and if additional blessings come my way, I can be grateful. This leads to more feelings of contentment and thankfulness and…happiness.
This also ties in with part 2, and the discussion about not holding tightly to things we own. By letting them go, I am freer. I don’t just mean free from clutter; I also mean that I’m free from the wanting more and more stuff, and (most importantly) I’m free from feeling that I’m entitled to stuff, which leads to disappointment and bitterness when that stuff is not forthcoming.
One final point: believing that blessings are undeserved also helps me cultivate a servant’s heart. When I don’t feel superior to others, it’s easy to instead feel compassion and empathy. It’s easy to want to serve…to help…to share.
When was the world a worse place with those kinds of impulses in peoples’ hearts?
Earnest Parenting: help for parents who feel undeservedly blessed.
Photo courtesy of Cecilia, some rights reserved.