Sweet Daisies

Sweet Daisies

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Attention: Giving More of Yourself

Dag Hammarskjold once wrote: It is more noble to give yourself completely to one individual than to labour diligently for the salvation of the masses.

Sometimes people mistakenly think that finding meaning in life requires making a huge contribution that impacts millions. But often the most meaningful and lasting contributions or acts of charity are those that occur in small, one-on-one ways when attention is given to a solitary individual.

I'm sure when you ask people to identify a person who has been greatly influential in their lives, typically they do not respond with a person who performed some great act of courage or excelled in a particular talent. Rather, most of us describe people who took time out of their busy schedules to focus their attention on us as individuals - to make us feel important by including us in their lives; if only for a moment.

One thing that sets people apart - that lifts them above the others - is that, regardless of the size or nature of their organisations, they never forget the worth of an individual.

A little attention can mean a whole deal to a mere individual. Because each of us are ultimately a one. So to know that there are people in the world who recognise our value is truly heart-warming. Sometimes we all need to be reminded that we are individually important - unique persons of worth.

As Richard Moss said " the greatest gift you can give another is the purity of your attention".

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