As you bring about changes in yourself, it has the same affect as a rock thrown in a still pond: ever-widening circles. Your behavior may affect someone else.

We cannot help exchanging with the world, and it is our gain if our exchange is a gain for the world. And we can benefit the world when we have improved ourselves, even in a small way. I had a friend named Jim who worked in an office for a large corporation. He had quit smoking, but every time he went to a meeting, the room was filled with smokers. And, naturally, every once in a while someone would offer him a cigarette. He would decline with a comment such as, “No thanks, I haven’t had one fo those in about five years. And I feel so much better that I don’t think I’ll ever smoke again.” Then he would go sit at the end of the table as far from the smokers as possible.

There will come a time when you want to share your good fortune, and returning the gift of life is the highest goal. Help yourself, but give others a full helping too. In fact, you may find that serving others well, offering them a good meal, is the most rewarding thing you can do. Life is not all about taking; it’s also about giving back.

As you grow, you will begin to give to others; you will become the mentor, the helper, the teacher. Not only is that the natural consequence of t the changes in yourself, it’s also the next step up in the development cycle that you are cultivating in yourself. It’s good for you too. The book of Proverbs says, “One man freely gives, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give and only suffers want” (Proverbs 13:7).

Perhaps we make a mistake thinking that the only way to improve ourselves is from the inside. The great psychologist Carl G. Jung expressed and idea in his book Psychology and Religion that the soul is for the most part outside the body. A contemporary philosopher, Thomas Moore, said of this idea, “If we were to think of the soul as being in the world, then maybe our work would be seen as a truly important aspect of our lives.” Our soul is out there as much as it is in here, and in order to nurture it and care for it and grow it, we need to make the world a better place – a better place for it, a better place for ourselves, a better place for everyone.

• No life is full if it is isolated.
• Recognize which relationships are  for reasons or seasons or a lifetime.
• What you make happen for someone else, life will make happen for you.