The Point Is… Service

The year-ending will do this to you… it will make you reflective, even a little philosophical. One starts out thinking about the year gone by, and if we were able to garner a decent number of ticks in our list of ‘Things To Do In 2023’. The eventual resultant stream of disappointment finds solace by diffusing into the greater sea of philosophy, with the clichéd rhetoric, ‘What’s the point of it all, anyways!’

A few days ago, even I found myself haggling over this existential dilemma, with a dear friend, over lunch. Let’s call him SP. Now, SP is one of those extremely rare, genuine, gentlemanly, helpful souls… slightly introverted with a good sense of humour and impeccable manners, perpetually helping someone or the other, without any agenda… in short, he’s that elusive, old-school ‘Parsi boy’ that single girls (and their parents) seek out! But SP, unfortunately, has chosen sanity over matrimony, and has decided to stay single!

He pondered my question for a minute and then said, “It’s service. The point of it all, is service.” While it felt instantly quite believable coming from him because of the person he is, his words stayed with me and increasingly resonated as the perfect answer to so much more than just that rhetoric. At the end of the day, what it all boils down to is service. But let’s first undo a couple of myths about service – for starters, it’s not just about helping others, it’s also about what you can do for yourself. More importantly, service is not a sentiment, it is a verb, it is about doing something that creates value or makes a difference in the lives of others or ourselves. Sitting down and taking notice doesn’t qualify – you have to get up and take action to be of true service.

Service is the essence of every ‘To Do’ list, every ‘New Year Resolution(s)’. In fact, service is the very point of existence! It gives true meaning to life when you are of service to yourself, your family, your friends, your community, your colleagues or simply to strangers in need. Service justifies your raison d’être – your reason for being, your purpose of life. It gives you something to look forward to each waking morning, and in that, an opportunity to experience the true sense of joy and achievement and self-worth. The answer to most of life’s questions lies in service! Best served in the words of the inspiring Martin Luther King, Jr., “Everybody can be great because everybody can serve.”

Have a lovely weekend!

– Anahita