Giving

Happy New Year

Well, the holiday season is out of the way, and its now 2012.

The more and more I delve into myself and life, there is one subject which amazes me more and more. I find this subject really powerful. One day I hope that I can fully embrace this quality 100%. When I see others doing it, I am in awe. The quality I am talking of is quite simple really. Although I find very few people are able to do it. What am I talking about ?

I'm talking about GIVING ! With Christmas a few weeks gone now, I'm sure a lot of you were giving...BUT...

... The type of giving I admire most is the 'giving without expectation'. I know that when I give a gift without any expectation of anything in return, I feel most joy and most loving, and normally the other person can feel that too.

One of the things which often stops me from 'giving' is my sense of lack of abundance, but a gift is not always something we have to buy. A simple thank you can be a gift to someone, which is another thing I am working on. I often feel gratitude, but then forget for some reason to actually express my gratitude the person or thing I feel grateful for.

Giving to charity / philanthropy

I went through a stage a few years ago of giving 10% of my salary to a cause of my choosing. I had read in a 'Prosperity book' that one can EXPECT to receive so much in return, if one 'gives' 10% of their income. I did this for months and months ... and for months and months my financial situation never changed, apart from losing the 10% of my wages each month. Granted the 10% went to a good cause, but I myself was 'giving' for the wrong reason. I was 'giving' because I was expecting something in return. My views now are, 'God does not Bargain'.

I do believe that 'giving' does bring a sense of abundance, but only when one is giving for the simple reason, that they desire 'To Give'... FULL STOP !

So now when I feel to give, I ask myself first ' Do I really want to give ?' or am I secretly expecting something in return.

Sometimes one may choose to 'Give' money to a certain cause, then expect to say how that money is spent, or feel they are now able to make decisions on how the cause is run. I believe this not to be true giving.

In the past I have 'given' because of the pressure from others expecting me to give, and then been too embarrassed and scared not to give. This again is not true giving.

I HOPE

I hope this year to really appreciate and understand my life as a gift from God... a life in which God gave me. Does God expect anything in return for her gift ? I think not.

I hope this year to have the courage to believe that I myself am a gift to the world. In doing so, I hope my life to be my work ... my love, my passions, my desires.

I hope this year to cultivate the courage to 'give' of myself and expect nothing in return. How powerful would that be ?

As always Im posting a movie clip here. I love this film, Its from a 'Wonderful life'. George was having a really tough time, he had lost everything :( ... then everything changes with appreciation :)

THANK YOU

PERRY