10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace: Third Secret

February 24, 2010 by dr. lam

Third Secret: “You Can’t Give Away What You Don’t Have”

When we think of giving something away, we think of a finite repository of items where what we give will deplete us. For example, if we have 10 oranges and we give 10 away, we will in turn have none. However, that is not the case with love, passion, and compassion. When we give those away, we get a lot more in return.

However, those of us who are empty cannot give anything away. If our lives are filled with hatred and misery, that is the best that we can do for others. When we realize that when we fill our own cups, that cup will spill over to others then we can do so much more than we could have imagined in our lifetime.

Dyer walks the reader through Carl Jung’s four archetypes. The first archetype is the athlete who is entranced with his own physical body and how it looks and functions. The second archetype is the warrior who is in charge of conquering the world through mental acuity and domineering prowess. The third archetype is the statesman who is interested in turning his life towards the service of others. The fourth archetype is one of pure spirit, who lives a spiritual life free of the fetters of this world.

Dyer talks about how a life of spirit and a life of service can provide meaning for our lives and a purpose that is more grandiose than one of ambition, accumulation, prestige, respect, and all the trappings that we associate with our material existence. He talks about how we can achieve a greater good that can drive our happiness when we fill our cups so that we can in turn fill the cups of others.

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