I went to see the doctor yesterday for a physical.  When I got to his office, a receptionist helped me--she took all my information, took care of the billing through my insurance, created a file for me, and later made a new appointment for me.  After she was done, a nurse came out and called me in, and then she took my pulse and weight and blood pressure, then she even did an EKG for me.  Then the doctor came in and went through a lot of questions with me, checked me out, and then gave me a few suggestions and referred me to a dermatologist.

After I was through at the doctor's office, I went to the supermarket to buy dinner.  I asked someone who worked there where I could find something, and he showed me where it was.  When I took it to the cashier, she cheerfully rang up my purchase and took my money and gave me change, passing my food back to the guy who put it into a bag for me.  On the way home, I passed a man who was directing traffic as he was working on a road crew--he kept the drivers safe from vehicles that the construction crew was using.

When I got home, I stopped at my mailbox, where our postal delivery person had put our mail earlier in the day.  The mail was from all over the country, and it had made its way to our home through the efforts of who-knows-how-many people.  One of the pieces of mail was a DVD that had been sent to us by someone who works for the company from which we rent the DVD's.

When you stop to think about it, it can be simply astonishing just how many people are dedicated to serving us.  As we go through each day, person after person serves us in one way or another--some more effectively than others, of course, and some rather poorly at times--and it can boggle the mind to consider just how many people have served us in our lifetimes in many different ways.  Teachers, food servers, cashiers, clerks, bellhops, doctors, lawyers, police officers and firefighters--the list is almost endless.  Whenever I stop to think about it, I always come to a conclusion:  that I want to serve the other people on the planet as well as so many people have served me.  For that approach, I'm sure, is one of the clearest and simplest ways to live our lives fully that we can find.

The only ones among you who will be truly happy are
those who will have sought and found how to serve.

Albert Schweitzer