The Act of Giving

Posted on December 8, 2007 in Motivation by byronb

Whatever we put out into the world, we get back, and usually in much greater quantity and intensity. While perform a giving act with the intent of receiving something back is contrary to the very definition of giving, it is worth being aware that when we perform a loving act for another person, what we get reflected back to us is love.

Often people become turned off to selfless giving because they are not present to its rewards. It’s not just that they don’t perceive themselves get anything back from it; they don’t perceive themselves as getting anything out of it. But we always get back what we give. So how does it go so unnoticed?

The misperception, the confusion, is in that we don’t get back what we give in the way, shape, or form we expect. Nor do we get back what we give from the same place to which (or person to whom) we gave it. Nor in our expected time frame.

When we perform acts of kindness, we set off a chain reaction of goodwill that can’t help but find it’s way back to us in the form of some unexpected kindness at some other time coming from some unexpected source and direction.

The act of selfless giving feels good in and of itself, in part because it is rooted in the present moment and not in some hoped-for future outcome. In the present moment we can get out of our noisy, thinking, planning, plotting, hoping, fearing, head and into our bodies. To feel your body in the act of giving to another is an incomparable sort of bliss.

For a moment, you are not your thoughts, your judgments, or your past. You are not your opinions and your ideas about your identity. You are not your problems and your stresses, your responsibilities and obligations. You are but a vessel of fulfillment, a chalice of Life, a channel for the all-giving, all-loving, all-powerful creative force to flow through.

Giving is a twofold gift, as you not only give another the fulfillment of a present need or desire, you also give them the gift of an opportunity to feel gratitude. Gratitude is a powerful form of positive energy that attracts more positive energy to itself. To feel grateful is a blessing, as it calls to the person more reasons to be grateful. To give someone else the opportunity to experience that blessing within themselves, that chain reaction of continuing goodness, is a gift.

Giving can take the form of volunteering for a charitable organization or civic group: church, your child’s school, a local hospital. Giving can take the form of spending time with a friend when they’re down; lend them an ear, a shoulder to cry on, an encouraging word. Giving doesn’t have to cost money.

Giving of yourself is giving your time and energy, your loving and creative attention. This has no price, nor could one ever be placed on it. It could be a simple act like a phone call, passing along an inspiring book, writing a friendly note, lending a hand, saying ‘Thank you’, telling a funny story. Even a pat on the back, a hug, a handshake, and a smile, genuinely given, can be a divine act.