While we remain in pursuit of many worthwhile personal endeavors, we must always remember to acknowledge and nurture those around us. Those who need nurturing may be our family or our co-workers; but they may also be those in community at-large.

I have found in my own life, and observed in life of others that we can attract abundance by serving others. The biblical adage, “We reap what we sow” lives on.

We live fulfilled lives, not by seeking treasure or pleasure for ourselves, but by turning our desires and efforts outward.

By so doing, we put ourselves in position to deserve success.

Many of us live what I call a “TV existence.” Rather than giving back to community, and making life for others better, those living “TV existence” live their lives as passive spectators, always seeking rest and comfort.

How can we fight our way out of such lives?

Start keeping a journal. Leave a legacy to your children of an account of your life. If you record your activities, you will tend to lift yourself off of sofa and accomplish more meaningful works. No one wants to record in their daily journal, “Today I watched following sit-coms….”

Find a need and seek to fill it Look for opportunities to make a contribution to good of others.

On a Monday not long ago, as I took my lunchtime walk around a nearby lake, I noticed a great deal of trash left by weekend recreationalists. I fumed in my mind for ten minutes or so, and then decided I should do something positive. The next day, Tuesday, as I walked, I brought along a trash bag and a stick with a nail on end for picking up trash. I was able to get my exercise, and at same time, pick up a few pounds of trash. My walks on Wednesday and Thursday filled me with warmth and gladness at seeing results of my simple labor.

Sometimes yes, and sometimes no. We often allow ourselves to be swept along by life, rather than proactively choosing our paths. We need to passionately pursue what we want.

Early in our lives, we develop lofty dreams. Thoreau calls them “castles in air.” We see ourselves becoming physicians, lawyers, famous authors, and we have many other beautiful dreams regarding how our lives will turn out.

But, as life kicks us around a bit, we lower our expectations, and begin to settle for what we have become. We cede control like plastic bag—tossed by winds of adversity and challenge and deposited where we along side of road that would have lead to our dreams.

Deliberate living Jim Rohn has said,

"If you don't have a plan (goals) for what you want, then you will probably find yourself buying into someone else's plan and later find out that wasn't direction you wanted to go. You've got to be architect of your life."

Before builders of a massive office structure begin construction, architects spend months in designing it. They discuss functionality, beauty, local ordinances and make detailed plans for building’s construction.