For a lifetime, my heart has desired goodness and transformation for me and the world. However, until my early thirties, my pursuit of these things had been unfulfilling and ineffective, looking something like this:
From the Outside to the Inside (unfulfilling and ineffective)
1. Change the world
2. Change my community
3. Change my family
4. Change myself
Bringing transformation and goodness in this way is filled with many good intentions but often unfulfilling and ineffective.
In my mid-thirties, for a variety of reasons, I discovered a much more fulfilling and effective way to bring about transformation and goodness:
From the Inside to the Outside (fulfilling and effective)
1. Self-Care
2. Family-Care
3. Community-Care
4. World-Care
This second model is slower but stronger over time. As I care for myself, I can care for my family. As I care for my family, I can care for my community. And, as I care for my community, I can care for the world.
This might seem selfish, but it is the opposite. Embarking upon self-care, and working from the inside to the outside, could be the most outwardly focused course of action we have ever embarked upon.
Photo by Laurent Naville on Unsplash