The past week was tough. No matter how much yoga I did, time in nature, time in meditation and mantra, I could not get out of my head. The negativity chatter swirled and swirled, “You’re not good enough. You’re a bad friend. Who do you think you are to teach yoga and so on…” Compassion- be witness- I shared this with some trusting friends who simply listened. Their love and support are invaluable. Thank you.

We had signed up to volunteer at The Marion House to help serve breakfast. It was going to be an early morning and part of me wanted to stay in bed. However, I knew this would be the exact medicine I needed. I wasn’t sure how, but my heart said this is EXACTLY what you need.

Wow, it sure was. I had never served in a soup kitchen before. I’d always wanted to and for some reason it wasn’t until now, that it happened.

Our friend, Phil, volunteers often for Catholic Charities, and showed us the ropes. We started by chopping vegetables, zucchini and carrots. There’s something meditative about chopping for me. It also made me realize we ought to sharpen our knives! The coordinator then gave us the food safety chat and then, we were assigned duties. Austin and I got bread and pastry duty along with another woman. I set my intention to simply serve selflessly with an open heart and grateful to get to offer a smile, a good morning or a how are you today. How often are those suffering from homelessness casted aside, ignored, all dignity extinguished?

As the morning progressed, I felt like the Grinch whose heart had grown three times in size.

What I learned? I set my intention to serve without expecting a thank you, etc. However, in my normal day to day life I realized that’s not always the case. How many times have I done something nice with a certain level of recognition? I’m humbled to admit, it’s happened more often than I’d like to admit. However, it’s a learning a new level of humanness about myself that I’m now much more keen to pay attention to. Since then, I’ve realized how disappointing and let down I can feel if I don’t give selflessly. Now, I make it a point to give an extra smile, do a favor, offer a gift, make someone else’s day easier with this same kind of level of giving without expectation. In doing so, my heart feels much much more full.

If this resonates with you or you’ve had a similar experience, please let me know. Let’s grow our hearts together!