High on Happiness

Posts Tagged ‘giving’

“Life is a gift, and if offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming something more.” ~Anthony Robbins

It’s not what we give back to life in return for the precious gift of being that enlarges us.  What makes us something more is that we listen to the voice of love that urges us to give in the first place, and hearing it, strive to give our very best.

To give back to life—of our gifts, our kindness, our patience, our encouragement, our time—is an act of gratitude.  It’s a recognition that we are channels of life’s abundance; we are its co-creators of goodness and joy in the world.

It’s through us, through the words we speak and the songs we sing, that truth and beauty flow into the world.  It’s through the expression of our talents and skills that life creates culture, and science, and civilization.  It’s through the expression of our love that families and communities and brotherhood are born–one giving act at a time.

Each of us gives back to life in our own unique way, according to our own sets of strengths and abilities and talents.  And life takes our offerings and weaves them together so that they bless and enrich us all.

As I walk through the gardens and woodlands, I cannot help but notice how generous nature is.  She seldom creates just one of something, or only a small sample.  Instead, she liberally strews her blessings with a broad sweep of her hand.

So we should be in our own giving, strewing our smiles and kindnesses generously, with an open and loving heart.

It takes so little, really, to lend a listening ear, to give someone a hug or a hearty pat on the shoulder, to encourage, or give worthy praise.  Yet how these little generosities sweeten life!

The gifts of kindness we give, the joy we share, the hospitality we offer, the time we spend easing the way for others enriches us as well as those to whom we give and is multiplied many times over in subtle ways we may never know.  Generosity connects us to each other; it expands us, allowing us to look beyond ourselves and to see the need of another and to know that we are so large that to help, or lift, or gladden is an easy and beautiful thing.

Generosity is a graciousness, rooted in the joy of extending ourselves out to another.  In giving, we find meaning and purpose.  We feel the worth of ourselves and the quiet satisfaction of knowing we made a difference, that we brought a beam of light into someone’s life.

Generosity isn’t something you can measure or weigh.  It’s not about how much, but how freely we give.  The forest floor gives forth many tiny treasures as readily as it gives the mighty oaks.  And the little gems it offers perfume the air with their gladness.

“We ourselves may feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean,” said Mother Teresa, “But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”

When a friend of mine voiced the season’s most frequently spoken complaint—that the holidays were altogether too commercialized—I got to thinking about how compelling the whole gift-giving ritual is, how everybody gets swept up in it, even when it goes against the grain of their personal beliefs about how things should be.

“What drives it, really?”  I wondered.  Oh sure, for some it’s a mindless response to the relentless advertising campaigns.  For others it’s an unquestioned tradition.  For others still, a bowing to social pressure.

But even when we don’t question why we feel compelled to give gifts this time of year—to shop or make things or to give of our time–we do put thought into what we will give.  And even though times are tough and wallets thin, we want to give the best that we can—something that will please or help or be useful, something that will say, “I care,”  and give joy.

Even if we only write a card or note, or make a phone call or visit, or do a kindness, what drives us, the irresistible force that’s behind it, seems to me to be an almost universal upwelling of love.  And that, I think, is the miracle of it all.  And that’s the power behind its contagion.

Love just grabs your heart and carries you along on its unstoppable tide.  It makes you want to give the very best you have to offer, because nothing less will satisfy love’s sweet command; nothing less will do.  And that’s where the joy comes from, and the peace.  It comes from saying yes to love and giving it away the very best way you can.

In this season of peace and joy, the fullest hearts of all are pouring out compassion.  Those who feel the deepest happiness, the kind that’s awash with serenity and peace, have known as well, you see, life’s deepest sorrows.  They’ve felt the sting of loss, the agony of grief, the pain of unanswerable questions.  They know what it is to feel alone, to feel hopeless and lost and discouraged.  And having come through to the other side, they reach out as beacons of gentle light to those who are still lost or suffering.

They quietly give their gifts: a coin, a basket, a word, a touch.  They give with love of their time, their treasure, and their attention.  They listen, they encourage, they invite, and they share.  They send their wishes and their prayers on the wings of the Infinite to all who are in need.

I’ve seen you, you compassionate ones, reaching out.  I’ve seen you feed and clothe and comfort and nurse.  I’ve watched you sacrifice sleep and stretch your tolerance and dollars just to lighten another’s load or to paint a small smile on a face that was streaked with tears before you came along.  I’ve watched you kindle laughter and brighten eyes.  And without even knowing it, you have deepened my joy, and my faith.

You do happiness awesomely well.  And I thank you.