Six Honest Serving Men

Originally published in 2005.

If you’re lucky there was a moment in your life when a light bulb turned on in your mind and the light made it clear for you to see your life for what it was, what it is and what it will be. If you’re really lucky this moment happened at a very early stage in your life. Unfortunately the light bulb doesn’t turn on for everyone. For some of us there’s no light bulb to turn on and consequently we stumble around in darkness. Sure, without the light you can live from day-to-day, maybe even thriving in some senses, but without the light there’s probably a whole lot of unnecessary stress and strain which tarnishes everything you do.

Over years of studying what it takes to move in the right direction, I've found there may be ways to turn the light bulb on yourself, instead of it happening as a happy coincidence. One technique I've developed is based on a few lines from the poem "The Elephant's Child" by Rudyard Kipling. So it goes…

I keep six honest serving-men; They taught me all I knew; Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who.

The key appears to be to have a child-like curiousity and ask questions. The serving-men Kipling spoke of will make the questions come to life and the answers you come up with may possibly turn the light bulb on in your mind.

The first question to ask: Who am I? Of course, in the spiritual sense, you're a blessed child of god, but for now let's focus on your life goals and aspirations—which you do have, don't you? Maybe you work in a particular field which you don't find fulfilling—it's just not the real you. You may be going through the motions, but there's no passion. On the other hand, maybe if you gave them a chance, your goals and aspirations would ignite a fire in you and take you in a much more exciting direction. That direction may be the real you. Therefore you must define yourself and not let the world dictate who you are. You may be working as an administrative assistant, but are you really an artist, a mathematician, an auto mechanic, a business owner? You may not be able to quit your day job, but don't let it stop you from pursuing the real you in your spare time. And beyond defining yourself, maybe you must re-invent yourself to live your dreams. The key to being who you truly are is to focus on your strengths and what excites you, then let your self-transformation begin.

The second question to ask: What am I doing? For extended periods of your life you may be engaged in self-defeating activities and not be aware of it. Many of us can't break out of the delusional world we live in, regardless of how dire our circumstances may be or what the warning signs are. We can be warned and chided by friends and family, but for some reason it may not sink in that we're actually digging a deeper and deeper pit hole to climb out of, if we're able to climb out of it at all. Is what you're doing helping you to survive or making you thrive? Or, is it killing you? You've got to be honest with yourself and answer the question. And if you can't figure it out, find someone who can. Get an objective set of eyes to take a peek into you what's going on and you may be amazed and the feedback you get.

The third question to ask: Why am I doing what I'm doing? Maybe you're spinning in circles, doing all the wrong things for all the wrong reasons as if you're on a vicious merry-go-round—and you may not even be aware of it. Oftentimes your reasoning can be blindsided by out of control emotions and the reason why gets blurred. Toxic relationships, anxiety, destitution, moral corruption and a whole list of things can take advantage of you when you're weak and seduce you into doing things for the wrong reasons. Love, desire and ambition are powerful emotions, but they can lift you up or tear you apart. To put your mind at ease, the key to "why" questions is to make sure everyone benefits from what you're doing, and make sure everyone includes you. Selflessness is not always a noble task. Always make sure that your best interest is in the mix.

The fourth question to ask: Where am I going? Your activities and desires, consciously or subconsciously, are taking you to a certain destination. Is that destination where you ultimately want to be? The direction in which you're traveling is extremely importance because you build momentum and force as you move along—and the faster you're moving the harder it is to change direction. If you're running a hundred yard dash it's impossible to stop on a dime and make a sudden turn, so where you're going and the speed at which you're traveling could make or break you. Or maybe you're taking a slow ride, not even aware that you're moving. Be careful because you could be floating down a river and all of a sudden you hear the roar of a waterfall growing louder and louder. The question is can you paddle safely to the riverbank or are you doomed for disaster? If you're lucky maybe you're floating to an island paradise, but for some reason it doesn't always work like that. Keeping that in mind, it's always best to know exactly what road you're on so you can reach a destination of your choosing.

Fifth: When am I going to get started? Most of us are stuck in neutral simply because we're scared to change gears and move forward. We're always allowing self-imposed limitations and procrastination to keep us stuck in the mud. The bottom line is now is the time to get started. Not tomorrow, not next week or next year, but right now. If something is holding you back, what is it? Or are you allowing something to hold you back? You may be delaying your dreams and maybe you don't know it. Your success can be right around the corner, but you're dilly-dallying around with Joe, Bob and Tyrone wishing and hoping for success. Well, your success will continue to be in purgatory until you decide to do something about it and take action on your commitment. Whatever it is stopping you from making a decision which is in your own best interest needs to be thoroughly destroyed—and it's normally some type of fear. It can be fear of failure or fear of success, but it doesn't really make a difference. The only thing that will make a difference is for you to take action now.

Sixth: How will I make things happen? I think this is the most powerful question. Ironically the beauty of the "how" question is the answer may be "I don't know." In my opinion "I don't know" is the most powerful answer because when you don't know you start searching. Many people, due to a toxic mixture of ignorance and arrogance, think they know much more than they actually do and they stop searching and growing. There was a gentleman who once said, "It's not what you don't know that gets you into trouble, it's what you know that ain't so." Be careful of what you know and what you think you know. It could make all the difference in the world. Ironically the older and wiser you get, the more you find out how little you know about life, love and the pursuit of happiness. For some reason no one has been able to figure out why that is the case, but it is reality. So, don't let lack of information or a clear cut plan stop you. Sometimes you have to figure things out as you go along. You may be trailblazing new territory and trial and error may be how you're going to get the job done.

So, who, what, why, where, when and how? Now that you know the questions to ask, the ball is in your court. Put your mental power to work and start coming up with some answers.

Copyright by Kirk Charles, 2005. Redistribution or reprinting of any kind, in any type of media, without the prior written authorization of Kirk Charles is strictly prohibited.