Give A Little -- Get A Lot

Somewhere along my path this year I understood the reasons behind giving for the first time. This isn’t the only reason, but for me it was a very powerful and eye opening reason.

The lesson came from Neale Donald Walsh, in his last book of the Conversation With God series that he named Communion With God. I highly recommend the book by the way, even if you may not agree with all he says.

In this book, Walsh says that since we are all one, when you give to someone you are, in essence, giving to yourself. Interesting, I thought! I had certainly never thought about it like that. Have you?

He went on to talk about the harm you do when you give too much, as in a co-dependency situation that does not allow a person to evolve into himself or herself; to be who they need to be. Pain might be part of that growth and if you take away too much of that pain, you are getting in the way of a natural learning process. Since we are all one, you are getting in the way of your own growth!

For instance, give food to a hungry person, but teach them how to feed themselves. (Haven’t I heard that somewhere?) I have kept that in mind as I do what I can to be of help this year. I try to volunteer myself in a manner that makes best use of my talents. Now I realize that the benefits to me are far beyond the effort I give most of the time! My rewards include gratitude from my clients and peers, building of my own confidence in my abilities, a much larger network of people, and lots more opportunities! What a deal!

My question to you is … to whom, or what, can you give a little bit to this year?