Saturday, February 7, 2009

Give and Get

Giving is the real joy in life, and the best we could ever give to someone is giving of ourselves. If we can achieve this in our work, in our relationships, in whatever we do, then we'll be truly happy. It's also infinite. There's never an end to the joy of giving. It carries true meaning, and creation is its ultimate outcome.

Getting is nice too, for a while, and we should not prevent us from getting. But it has its limits. After a while, the taste we found in those things we valued is not quite the same, and even the best things on earth are never enough, never satisfying, we'll always want something different. Getting should be a consequence, not a goal.

We often think that if we get rich and can do what we want, we would be happy. That's true, but only for a while. Eventually, it would still depend of what we do with it. Those who have learned to give of themselves in whatever situation they are in, rich or poor, are ultimately more happy than those who always seek to get, rich or poor. Sometimes, the small things in life are what really matters.

There's never an end to the opportunity to give, because we always "have" with us what we need in order to do so: ourselves.

1 comment:

Rebecca Hartong said...

We have a grassroots "movement" of sorts here in the US called "FreeCycle" -- it's a combination of the words "Free" and "Recycle". Each "freecycle" group is limited to a specific, relatively small, geographic region so members are always dealing with people in their own community. The idea is that you give away -- with no strings attached -- stuff you're no longer using and, if you need something, you ask the group for it and (hopefully) someone will give it to you. All the communicating about what's being offered, what's been taken, and what is needed is done online.

I've been really impressed with the VERY nice things people give away. Televisions, stereos, computers... very often it's stuff people could easily have sold. There are other less "valuable" things that people give away, too -- though even more needed by others. Lots of people give away children's clothing, toys, and baby care items. People even give away food.

I've been on both the giving and the receiving end of freeycycle and it's a wonderful feeling.

I agree with you: there's never an end to the joy of giving.