Get What You Want: An Experiment

I have an experiment for you to try. I tried without even realizing and it totally worked. Ok ready?

Start thinking about some of the things you want right now. A better job or maybe to not have to work at all? A certain item you've been wanting to purchase for yourself? An opportunity you're hoping for? A resolution for some conflict? A relationship you want to improve? Ok this is starting to sound like a pile of fortune cookies. Stop.

Stop thinking about yourself.

Step two...think about someone you can help. It doesn't have to be some big bold service project. Maybe you just need to put a little more focus into letting your spouse know how awesome they are. Maybe you've noticed someone that could use a friend, a phone call. What about smiling at the cashier who helps you at the store, and genuinely asking them how their day is going?

Random side note: I was at the grocery store a few weeks ago and the woman in front of me asked the cashier how she was doing. The way she asked really let this cashier know that she cared, so the woman told her about how hard her morning had been and that she still had a long day at work. The customer paid her bill and started shuffling through her grocery bags. Finally she tears open a box and pulls out a skinny cow ice cream sandwich. She hands it to the cashier and says, "I hope your day gets better."

That is what I'm talking about! If that customer had been thinking about her own problems she would have missed the opportunity to brighten someone's day. And not only did she affect the cashier, she inspired me. I had been trying to put my focus on others but when i saw this amazing woman I realized I have a long way to go.

Now back to you. Do you have some ideas on how you can shift the focus from yourself to those around you? Good. That is the experiment. 

Here is the anticipated result: 

When [you] look first to the interests of others, [you] improve more rapidly [yourself].*

Those things that you want so badly in life, that you would do anything for...they will come faster when you STOP trying to get them. If you genuinely try to spend your time helping your friends and anyone you can, the things you wanted will come. And you know what else? You might not even want some of them once you shift focus. However, when you start to notice that things are working out rather nicely without you arranging them, be grateful, feel His love.

"… Let your minds be expanded to comprehend and look after the interest of your friends that are around you, and where it is in your power to secure benefits to your friends do so, and in so doing you will find that those things which you need will come into your hands quicker than if you labor entirely to secure them to yourselves independent of regarding the interests of your friends."

*Teachings of the presidents, Lorenzo snow (Chapter 22: Doing Good to Others)