Monday, December 14, 2009

Giving and Receiving

We all have dreams and wishes that we believe would make us happy and fulfilled. I have mine and you probably do too. They are what life is built on. Dreaming energises our wishes and desires. Our experiences and life situations today are the result of yesterday's dreams and thoughts, as Thoughts become things. We become what we think.

Our dreams are likely to involve us receiving or benefiting from a change in our circumstances. We want something to happen. Receiving however is only one half of a two way process. The Chinese philosophy of the Tao te Ching as written by Lao Tsu in 3rd Century BC describes how all energies in the world are balanced in equal measure. When things get out of balance there is disharmony, dissonance and conflict. As night follows day, and winter can contrast with summer, so too does the harmony of opposites complement one another in everything in the Universe i.e. male and female, warm and cold, high and low, dark and light, wealth and poverty. Ideally we should work towards a balance in everything we are involved in.

If receiving is only half of an equation, the other half is the process of giving. Some cultures operate a system of tithing which involves giving a percentage of their income to support a worthy cause. And as they give with one hand, they may receive with the other. There are a number of considerations to the concept of giving. We should endeavour not to see it as a means of receiving what we want, but as an unconditional gift, otherwise the process is manipulative and the donation will not be a gift but more of a transaction, which is not the point. We should give because we want to and let nature take its course.

By giving, we are creating an energy that will be balanced by the return of favour or benefit. The return gift may not come back from the same place that we gave away to, but could come from a completely different source. It can be a gift that we have a real need of for ourselves; we may need money, so to give away money is worthy and selfless.

We can give in a way that is special or unique to us given our abilities and resources, such as specialist advice or practical assistance if it’s in our field. We may eventually receive something that is relatively easy for another person to give, but is exactly what we need. The timing of gifts to us is unlikely to match exactly our own gift. What, how and when we receive will be governed by everything going on in the world. We may even receive before we give.

Having the attitude that there isn’t enough to go round will work against us. A belief in abundance and that there is more than enough in the world is more likely to be of help. There may be some people in some countries with many possessions and other parts of the world with not enough, but generally there is sufficient to go round. Thankfully we all have different tastes and desires.

We tend to hold onto what we have because we have fear of giving it away, but this works against us. This demonstrates a 'lack', so this is what we attract.....more lack of what we want. Love for example is not only an inexhaustible commodity, but the more we give away, the more is returned. So we should endeavour to give away as much as we possibly can, as it will come back to us several fold. We should give away what we want to receive as this demonstrates our faith and belief in abundance so more will come to us. By giving away what we need, we are not sacrificing but manifesting.

What we give and receive may not equate in terms of monetary value but of perceived value, and it may form part of a chain of positive events. There is no way of calculating this and nor should we try. It is the whole hearted and unconditional role of giving that we should aim for, and let anything that is going to come our way, do so if and when it does. And we shall be grateful for it! We should not give something and then sit around waiting for the return benefit.

It's good to give.

James Boehm Every Month A Million and the Daily Dose Of Good

No comments:

Post a Comment