(a 7 minute read) It is not typical to start with ‘me First’. I am here to share with you that ‘me First’ is actually the way to be. You may consider me to be quite selfish to say this, let alone try and orate it from the top of the mountain. Before you turn me off, please spend the next few minutes reading to see why ‘me First’ is a sound training!

I am a kind of person that loves to help, assist, give a hand, or support others. “Awwww, how sweet”, you may think or say. But this actually is a confession and not a boast. A confession because it is for a selfish reason that I did it; it gave me a rush a high if you may when I helped others. I am close to 55 and for the longest time in my life there would be a ‘let down’ shortly after the high, just like it is with any other rush a person experiences; the higher the high, the lower the low. Please know, that you can apply the ‘me First’ to this here, but this is not, I repeat, not the ‘me First’ I want to talk to you about; bear with me.

So the help, the assistance and the support, I did for me and not for this other person. I did it because I am lacking something. I did it because I am looking to fill a gap of sorts. I did it because I am trying to prove something. I did it not because I am full of peace and joy, but rather because I am seeking to be filled with peace and joy. But instead of peace and joy, I got a high or a rush…….. Still not a bad thing, but not the intended purpose……..

A short time ago, relative to my 55 years 🙂 , a teaching became clear to me. It is a teaching as old as dirt; “Love your ………. as you Love ………..”  Venture to fill in the blanks!? Leviticus 19:18 as well as other verses

Therefore, the loving of me has to come first in order for the action towards others to be genuinely love!!

To love oneself is not easy, it is actually, in my opinion, one of the hardest things to do. Who’s ever been taught to love oneself? How do you even begin? How do you do it? You may think that I am referring to self-help books, but actually I am not. I’ll share with you in a minute what I am referring to.

It is a life long training and practice. Why? Cause it ain’t easy and it ain’t natural, but very doable and very fulfilling, as the result of the continual practice is to continue to sense peace and sense joy.

So ‘me First’ is all about me to learn about me, to know about me. What makes me tick, what gets me high and what gets me low.  The more I continue to learn about myself, and it is a lifelong process, the more I will get to recognize that I am miniscule. Miniscule, in a good way. You may say, “Come again!” I said, I am miniscule but ‘miniscule’ in a good way.

One that realizes that the world is not about me, that expectations end with disappointment, and disappointment hurts and many a time REALLY hurt so much it can ruin a life. One that understands that contentment is fulfilling while ‘to want’ is a bottomless pit. One that comprehends that what’s happened and what’s to happen create nothing but worry, and it is only living in the present that is filled with the Lord’s presence.  Yes indeed, living in the present ONLY is pretty tough, and that’s why it is a never ending practice that one does not attain, but rather always strive for.

Therefore, the selfishness in ‘me First’ is so that me is filled with Peace and Joy, so the next time I help someone it is for their sake and not for my sake…….

Then and only then, the selfishness in ‘me First’ becomes selflessness.

The more miniscule the more humble, and then the more I can accept and love me more.

Here are some ABC’s on how to start, and none of them is new or is a revelation, none;

So please go ahead; focus on yourself and get to know you more and more. Set the bar for you, and for others, a bit lower so the disappointments get less and less until they vanish.

Every time you I something, STOP, ask how much I really need it, instead, think of what I already have with thankfulness and gratitude, no matter how little it is that one has or possesses. Whether you end up buying it or not, is not the measure 🙂  Just practice. Slowly, contentment, bit by bit, will seep into your heart, and I hope that someday it’ll overtake my heart. But I need to remember, it is a lifelong practice.

Every time I think to myself, “he/she should have ……….”, I first need to ask myself, “What is it that I can do next time to ……….”

Live in the present, for that’s where our Lord’s presence is……………….. and right there in this Presence, there is no fear, there is no anxiety and there is no apprehension.

I come to you my Lord thankful for all that you make clear. I pray and I ask that these words right here be a lesson to me, to hold close and to practice, for Your Peace and Your Joy are what I selfishly seek. I thank and I love you 🙂   Amen.