091815-300x300I love this foundational quotation by Zig Ziglar! “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”

Seems kind of backwards, doesn’t it? Don’t we need to be working to get what we want? Isn’t that the way we live with abundance, by going out and getting it at any cost? That, unfortunately, is the mindset of far too many people in this world, but it doesn’t work out very well for those who do it this way. They may gather the fortunes they think they want, but often lose what is truly valuable in the process.

It’s when we live unselfishly and help others that we experience fulfillment. We should work hard, become our very best, live a balanced life, have meaningful relationships and earn a good living. But I believe that we are blessed with those benefits so that we can bless others.

Blessing others does not mean just donating goods and money. It means taking time to have real conversations with people, getting to know them and learning and meeting their needs, emotional, relational and even monetary, when appropriate.

If we live life with a closed hand so we can hold onto everything we have, we are also closed to receiving love, relationship and blessings from others.

Treat others the way you would like to be treated so you can live . . . your life to the fullest.