Do you want to be useful?

If so -

How do you go about making yourself useful?

***

First -

What does ‘being useful’ mean to you?

• Is ‘being useful’ about thoughts?
• Is ‘being useful’ about action?
• Is ‘being useful’ about both?

Next -

When you envision yourself being useful what, specifically, do you see yourself thinking or doing?

Why did you choose these things as being useful rather than choosing other things?

What's the relationship between these useful things and your personal values?

When you do these useful things, how do you do them?

Then –

How do you go about making yourself useful?

Do you set goals around your useful things?

Do you monitor the things you do and regulate yourself in an effort to maximize the time you spend doing useful things?

Do you refuse to do things you deem to be not-useful?

When you find yourself doing not-useful things do you stop and shift toward doing useful things?

When you feel bored do you intentionally choose to remove that boredom by doing useful things?

When you feel stressed do you check to see if you are doing useful things?

When you face problems do you intentionally focus on how to make yourself useful?

When you see people struggling do you automatically make yourself useful, helping them?

Throughout the day, do you ask yourself, "Am I making myself useful?"? 

At the end of the day do you ask yourself, "What useful things did I do today?"?

Do you commit to being useful tomorrow?

Do you commit to being useful every day from here to eternity?

***

Has making yourself useful become one of your good habits? 

Things are rarely as bad as they seem - things are rarely as good as they seem. 

Time seems to iron out our emotional highs and lows, healing old wounds and adding perspective to achievements.

In this way, Time shows us our tendency to overstate both the positives and the negatives.

A balanced viewpoint is a wonderful thing: enjoying the good things [while not getting too inflated about them] and accepting the bad things [without losing too much energy or damaging spirit].

While Dorothy and Toto aimed somewhere over the rainbow they ought to have been thinking about aiming somewhere closer to the middle of the rainbow, say in the bluish-green zone.

There’s much to be gained through a more balanced approach. I'm not talking about being dull and even-keeled all the time. We don’t want to ignore or miss the learning experiences embedded in life’s truly extreme experiences. But, life is not a roller-coaster ride unless our minds make it so.

Sure – we can be on the optimistic side of centre…as in – “always look on the bright-central side of life”. 

Stated another way – rose-coloured glasses have their limitations. After all, they focus on one end of the light spectrum [R as in ROYGBIV, that is]. So, there’s a good argument to be made in favour of wearing green or blue coloured glasses.

While inexpensive diamonds may lack lustre [and all those other pleasing-to-the-eye attributes], they are nonetheless diamonds, containing value. While expensive diamonds are far more expensive, they still contain imperfections…which you will learn all about if you try to sell one.

I rarely write about morals.

However, driven with hero worship, I want to share the 'self-direction' Benjamin Franklin provided to himself when he was in his early 20's. Somehow, this very wise fellow had the ability at a very young age to write 'life instructions' aimed at building the character he desired. He ranked his virtues [as presented below] and created and implemented a plan for developing, one-by-one, those virtues. He followed the plan for years, took daily notes on his progress, and carried his notebook with him throughout his life. 

Here are the virtues Benjamin Franklin wrote to himself then worked at throughout his life...

13 Virtues

1. Temperance.

Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

2. Silence.

Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.

3. Order.

Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

4. Resolution.

Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

5. Frugality.

Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.

6. Industry.

Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.

7. Sincerity.

Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

8. Justice.

Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

9. Moderation.

Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries as you think they deserve.

10, Cleanliness.

Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.

11. Tranquility.

Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

12. Chastity.

Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.

13. Humility.

Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

About Humility -

When he was 78 years old, Benjamin Franklin wrote,

"I cannot boast of much success in acquiring the reality of this virtue, but I had a good deal with regard to the appearance of it. I made it a rule to forbear all direct contradiction to the sentiments of others, and all positive assertion of my own." 

and he wrote,

"In reality, there is, perhaps no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself; you will see it, perhaps, often in this history; for, even if I could conceive that I had compleatly overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility."

What honest admissions!