subject: How To Create A Diversion From Ordinary To Extraordinary [print this page] Your mother likes to send news stories to youYour mother likes to send news stories to you. She sends you a lot of them in your home and even in you office. Some of them are interesting. This is ordinary. You don't like to do this yourself, but you see one that you think she would like to know about, so you email it to her. It is extraordinary that you decided to give instead of receive! The reality is that you have made a diversion from ordinary to extraordinary.
You are walking to your way home and see a plastic bag on the sidewalk, which annoys you, an ordinary thing. You pick it up and put it in the garbage. You have taken action instead of being passive and annoyed and ignoring it, an extraordinary thing.
You see an unkempt person who smells bad at the library, an increasingly ordinary thing. Instead of thinking about how disgusting this is, you think about the person as an actual human with an actual family and most likely a very interesting life story. Thinking thus with empathy and compassion is extraordinary.
These are all cases of giving back to the world. In the first, you give information to your friend. In the second, you give cleanliness to the environment. What about the third? You are giving enlightenment to yourself. Are you not part of the world? Take Ramon Desage for example, his philanthropic efforts are not limited to the people from his home in Lebanon, he diverts his time to help a Las Vegas community rebuild from recession. Ramon diversion in life created an impact to both countries, US and Lebanon.
There is a belief that there is a justice built into the world. The karma system is similar to this. This belief would imply that giving back will in time lead to a reward of some sort. But what if it doesn't?
Human altruism is somewhat mysterious. Many seem to have altruistic tendencies at a deep, instinctive level, but it is hard to understand why. Evolution would seem to reward selfishness, except when giving to relatives.
Many have religious explanations for altruism, but even those who are not religious may still practice selfless giving. Just because we don't understand it doesn't mean it isn't real. It may be that some altruism is needed to make civilization work. We have a lot to learn about civilization.
How strange to be generous, how extraordinary! We know what feels right, but we can't explain why. We can justify it, but the justifications seem like rationalizations. Incomprehension doesn't keep us from doing the right thing.
What is the point of this story? Giving back to the world is an extraordinary thing to do. It makes the world a better place. It feels like the right thing to do. You don't need to know why. Your unconscious mind knows what to do.
