The Light You Show To Others

Have you ever noticed that in a dark room, when you shine the light for others to see, you are also shining the light for yourself. If you try to shield your light from others, you may end up shielding it also from yourself. More often than not, the good you do to someone also comes back to you and you will still benefit from it. If you have this mentality, you will not need anyone to motivate you to do good.

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I read a story of a farmer that got a very hybrid species of seeds for his farm. However, one thing that surprised everyone was that he went ahead to share the seeds to other neighbouring farmers not minding that they are his competitors. He did this for the first planting season and both him and the neighbouring farmers had bountiful yield. The next planting season came, he also repeated the same thing.

When the locals became curious why the farmer always shares from the best of his seeds to the neighbouring farmers, he gave a very thought-provoking and insightful response. He explained to them that he is doing that for the benefit of his farm. This is because, when butterflies and bees come to pollinate his farm, they may being in pollen grains from the anther of the plants in the neighbouring farms into the sigma of the plants in his own farm.

Obviously, if his neighbours have bad plants, the pollen grains will corrupt his own farm. But since his neighbours already have good plants from his own hybrid seeds, there will be nothing to worry about. You see, his act of selflessness also benefited him in some way. This same thing happens when you show goodness to others or when you allow them to see with your light. You will agree with me that the person that bears the light for others to see will not walk in darkness.

I remember a real experience my friend told me. In their village, at a particular time of the year, they had scarcity of water, so the locals will gather at a central borehole to fetch water. A particular morning came, they went to the borehole as usual to fetch water (including my friend). When he got there, the queue was much so he joined up. After about 20 minutes, it was almost getting to his turn when he spotted an old woman that joined the queue. He thought to himself, "how will this woman be able to wait this long to fetch water?"

The next thing he did surprised everyone. He took the woman's gallon to the front and took his own to the back to replace the woman's own. Now the woman took his place on the queue and a few seconds later, the woman's turn reached and she fetched water. After the woman fetched her water, my friend also offered to help her take the water back home. At least by the time he would return, his turn would have reached, instead of just standing on the queue and waiting.

The nice gesture of the guy left the woman speechless. When they got to the woman's house, he dropped the water and was about to go, the woman called him back and asked him a few personal questions about what he does and all. The guy explained to the woman that he applied to the Defence Academy (NDA) but was not shortlisted, so he is waiting for next year to try his luck again. At that point, the woman told him that his son is a commandant in the NDA and he is involved with the recruitment process, and he will be coming home next week, she asked the guy to come and meet with his son.

By the time the woman's son came home, she narrated the guy's act of kindness to his son. When the the guy finally came to see the woman's son in the woman's house, the son asked him a very straightforward question: "Do you want to enter the NDA?" The guy answered in affirmative and he took the guy's details, and in less than 1 month, another list was released and the guy's name appeared on the top of the list. Now, my friend has already graduated from the NDA and he's now a flight lieutenant with the Air force. You see, his little act of kindness that he did to a woman was what paved the way for him.

_{Image from Pixabay}

At any point you are, any opportunity you have to do good to others, you should also see it as an opportunity to rise. Obviously, the pipe that dispenses water to others does not go dry.

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