My Thought of the Day

Can you really help people...for a living? Or should you? Yes, I know I'm choosing now to ask this question after being in my line of work for years. However, today it just came to mind, if you're trying to make a living, is it better to do something that is strictly profitable and then in your free time volunteer, bring joy to the world and help people. Or is it better to do something that you love, that you believe helps people and the world and yet try and earn a living at it?

For those big hearted individuals this can be quite challenging, you want to help everyone, you want to touch every life and every soul. If you value your service and charge what is considered reasonable you can't reach 'everyone'. It's not fair to charge some and not others or to charge differently. And yet if you do 'give away' your service, individuals expect that everytime, it just seems to be a natural human reaction. We often don't value what we get for 'free'.

This is also stressful for the service giver trying to make a living because putting energy into 'feeling bad' in regards to your income doesn't do anyone any good.

There are a few flip sides to this. As a country we spend money on crazy things, but it seems very little (comparatively) goes into our preventitive health and wellness.

"It's estimated that more money is spent keeping a person - a body alive, the last few days... than is often spent in an entire lifetime in prevention".~The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People Dr. Stephen R. Covey

There are other countries Canada for one, where your insurance includes an allotment for massage. This allows Canadians to take steps to maintain their wellness, as this is part of a healthy lifestyle, it helps strengthen their immune system and benefits every system in the body and hopefully cuts down on overall healthcare costs. I do believe this is a great thing all around, althought it still does not teach us where to spend our money. (that is until you're in a situation where you're no longer receiving massage and you notice the difference of how you feel in your body)

I do massage in a drug and alcohol rehab center. The other day a teenage boy came in to receive a chair massage. I watched as he stood infront of me holding up a twenty dollar bill, staring at it intently. He looked up at me and my massage chair, and told me of his revelation that this was the first $20 he hadn't spent on drugs. I told him I was honored to be the recipient of that $20. Massage is so beneficial when going through recovery as well as daily life. The teenager felt very glad he'd spent his $20 on massage afterwards.

During tough times, everyones wondering what to do with investments...we are our own best investment. It's one we often miss however. Taking steps, investing in taking care of our bodies, being of sound mind and body will help us get through tough times. While many individuals are stressed, frazzled and job hunting...being stressed and frazzled doesn't portray the traits of an employee companies are eager to hire. Taking care of yourself, receiving massage can help you put your best foot forward and sail through tough times.

I may have gone off on a bit of a tangent...but my thought is till the same. Find a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life....but if you don't work a day...do you pay the bills? Are you creating a living or a life? If your job is profitable, but at the end of the day you can leave it behind and put your energy into your passion...which method are you helping more people? Or should I ask are you better helping people...the goal could be more...or better.


I truly believe that massage is the solution to World Peace. If everyone...everyone got a massage at least ONCE a Week the Ripple effect would be World Peace!Just think about that for a moment. If we entered countries with warm hands, hearts and massage tables/chairs instead of armed with guns and ammunition. Would we make friends instead of enemies? If our goal was love and peace instead of control and domination (just a guess, i'm not saying everyone feels this way) would the outcome be different? I had wanted to write a book about this, my vision for world peace, touching lives one body/heart at a time. This thought fills me with such peace and happiness, makes me forget my point, although I can't reach this goal of world peace while making a living from it. Maybe I start an organization an Army of Massage Therapists that takes donations for those in need of massage in areas suffering from emotional unrest...The day dream continues in my head.

Oh but I've got to run...off to massage the world :) Or at least individuals from all over the world at the rehab...Thanks for hearing my thoughts.~Cheryl