Amazing Discovery

I like to make people happy.  I'm not talking about compromising my spiritual values, at all, but I like to go the extra mile.  I enjoy smiling and I like to see other people smile!  The personal touch is important, and to offer something extra is meaningful . . . I've finally realized, however; my version of meaningful, my idea of the extra mile, is not always appreciated by the subject of my effort.

Let me share what I have discovered.  All the people in your life who verbalized disappointment in your extra effort.  Lighten up the effort!  They will stop telling you what else you should do.  It's amazing.  As long as I was willing to keep trying a little harder, they were willing to keep raising the bar and moving the hoop.  Once I shrugged my shoulders and "sat down" so to speak, everything changed.  It's truly been a life changing discovery.

I have more time, less stress, and no expectation to be appreciated by others!  I can still be pleasant to all these people and simply offer a reasonable effort.  I even assure myself that my extra effort just made them feel inadequate . . . LOL.  My life changed when I realized everything I do, I do unto Abba; that is absolutely everything.  He doesn't believe in waste; not time and certainly not effort.  I've cleaned up my act.  Our Heavenly Father is much more appreciative than people, I've noticed!  Since Messiah is Torah, his expectations are clear and the bar is never raised . . . or lowered.

Oh, what a seriously happy day that was, when I realized some people are simply never satisfied, and some people are especially difficult to please, when they see you're willing to keep aiming higher.  Then one day, I realized, kindness to people is a byproduct of my relationship with my Heavenly Father.  The extra mile is about following Messiah, and sometimes after that second mile, it's time to hand their pack, back to them and realize we're no longer heading the same direction.  That's not mean, that's just moving on.

In speaking with my niece the other day, I jokingly mentioned this, and shared, "Nobody seems any more dissatisfied than they were when I was trying so hard!"