Overlooking the Opportunities to Grow in Holiness at Our Feet

On Saturday, I flew into Costa Rica with some friends. We stayed in a lovely condominium at the Westin Hotel & Resort in Guanacaste, about an hour's drive from the airport in Liberia. On day 3 of the trip, two of my friends were discussing their disappointment with the level of cleanliness found in the condominium. I thought the grout was dark because it was cement. She showed me it was dark because it was so dirty.

You pay a cleaning fee on op of the money paid for the stay, so it was understandable that my friends were not happy about the cleaning that did not get done. I don't know why the maids didn't take care of the floors. Maybe they were sick. Maybe they were overworked. Maybe they just didn't think it mattered. Sometimes we can feel like our work doesn't matter when it keeps being overlooked and undervalued. 

The Problem That Created My Opportunity

Dirty, uncleaned floors are a problem. How I handle that problem is my response-ability. It's my ability to choose how I respond to that situation. I can either focus on the problem and complain, or see the opportunity at my feet to make the world a better place by choosing to clean it up.

I didn't make the mess. It's not my fault that it exists. But I can choose to make it my response-ability to take care of it. I can be grateful for the opportunity to serve others that this mess provides me. 

Or, I can choose to complain about my problems. I can allow anger at the injustice of work that should have been done not being done to disturb my peace of mind. I can resent the work involved in fixing the problem and allow that anger and resentment to create a toxic internal environment. Complaining about problems and resenting the people who created the problems does me no good and destroys relationships. It forces me to live in the mess created and I don't want that. I want better for myself and for others.

Choosing Gratitude, Taking Action, and Growing In Holiness

I chose to be grateful for the opportunity the maid's failure presented me. The morning before I left, I got up early. With a little effort and some elbow grease, I cleaned the mess I didn't create even though I wouldn't be there to experience the benefit. I knew that, by doing so, I would make life a little better for the people who remained behind me and the people coming into it after me. And by choosing gratitude and taking action, I found joy filling my heart because I knew this was my chance to make the people in that space feel a little more loved, a little more valued, and a little more valuable. 

That's how holiness is grown. Every time we take a step, however small, to spread a little more love, a little more hope, and a little more joy in the world around us we grow in holiness. We make the world a more beautiful, peaceful, and loving place to be. And that's a world I want everyone to experience.