“Until we can receive with an open heart, we’re never really giving with an open heart. When we attach judgment to receiving help, we knowingly or unknowingly attach judgment to giving help.”
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This, perhaps sounds a bit contradictory to what we have always heard being said about the ‘Concept of Giving.’ We have been brought up to believe in the concept of charitable giving and then later on to wonder in awe at the words of Mother Teresa when she said,
“I must be willing to give whatever it takes to do good to others. This requires that I be willing to give until it hurts. Otherwise, there is no true love in me, and I bring injustice, not peace, to those around me.”
“It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.”
“Give, but give until it hurts.”- a concept close to my heart.
This is the firm belief that I have been following in my life..to a point where I may seemingly have less than the others but I enjoy a sense of fulfillment and peace like no other. Having been brought up in a conventional and strictly orthodox way, I have found it only natural to break away from the barriers of compartmentalized thinking and have developed my own set of principles of Peaceful Living. And Giving Away or Sharing whatever I can, in the form of Money, Time, Energy, Knowledge or any other available resources with me at that point of time, always has formed an important part of my Life Schedule.
It has never been restricted to seasonal giving but it is a way of life I follow. I have detailed it out a bit in Life is a boomerang.
“If nature has made you for a giver, your hands are born open, and so is your heart; and though there may be times when your hands are empty, your heart is always full, and you can give things out of that—warm things, kind things, sweet things—help and comfort and laughter—and sometimes gay, kind laughter is the best help of all.”
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The other day I had written out a quote “…The blessing lies in the Giving, not in the Receiving”. A better way of explaining it would be:
“Help others without any reason and give without the expectation of receiving anything in return.”
There could, at this point arise a point, ‘How do we ‘give’ if we have not received anything?’. This question arises with reference to money. If we do not have the money or the resources , how do we go about ‘giving’ it out?
So the derived conclusion of an average thinking man in terms of parting with his coins would be, “I no receive from anybody or anywhere: so I no give anybody anything….me not parting with my hard-earned money. Someone give me something ; I give someone else something from that.”
Interestingly, it depends on the way people think out things. Each individual perceives things in the way they have been trained to think or have trained their own minds to draw conclusions. Relating to money forming an integral part of giving, there is a common fear, that, having to give out green notes to charity or the less fortunate would deplete their own resources.
Here I invite each of you reading this to widen your thinking capabilities and see beyond the power of money as the only source of giving. Of course, we do operate in different ways of perception on the concept of giving and receiving.
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We can ‘Receive’ in order to ‘Receive’:
As in the case of young children or babies who are dependent enough only to receive. Or those adults whose only aim in life is to ‘receive’ from others or elsewhere. An egotistic, immediate and insatiable need ‘To Get‘. No other purpose in life.
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We ‘Give’ in order to ‘Receive’:
This is all about conventional morality. We expect something in return for favors done or gifts given. This type of give-and-take makes the world livable.
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We ‘Give’ in order to ‘Give’:
We are the blessed recipients of much goodness from the heavens above and it is our Higher Purpose calling us to rise up to the occasion and share or give to those in need, without expecting anything in return.
This is the highest level of Altruism and there is a sense of Godliness to it.
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We need to ‘Receive’ in order to ‘Give’:
The need to receive is an essential quality of the human experience and without receiving from other people or life itself – be it air, rain, sunshine, food, health, money or love – we would die. The gift of family, friends, education, the talents we nurture and the good things we receive from Life itself…we need to receive these in order to give out. These gifts may be ours by way of Good Fortune, Providence or the Benevolence of the Maker Himself.
We have to choose out our own path in resonance to our Calling and Purpose.
“Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice. Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice. Whatever choice you make makes you. Choose wisely.”