We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
(Winston Churchill)
What’s your attitude toward money? Not many of us can say we have more than enough money. Money can bless or money can severe relationships and destroy families. It’s a topic some would rather not talk about it at all.
But cultivating a habit of giving is about choosing to adopt an attitude of caring and looking out for others. It doesn’t necessarily require you to give money all the time. Otherwise we would all think that giving is reserved for those who have more to spare. That would rob us of the joy that only those who give to others can experience. Giving can be about gratitude as well. We give because others before us have done so. It can be about perpetuating a good deed.
I know that there are some generous people who pay it forward by buying coffee vouchers or food vouchers for others, and regularly look out for strangers to bless. Isn’t that awesome?
Receiving is also not about losing your dignity. Receiving can be about appreciation and gratitude as well. Indeed, when an unexpected but timely gift arrives, we are just filled with so much joy. This is best observed in children. Their squeal of delight or awestruck expressions are worth many movie tickets.
How then have you used what you have? Where have you planted your money?
My late granny was a woman of substance but not means. She lived through two world wars. She was not highly educated nor did she have much, but with what little she had, she always gave out to those in need. Even during the war, she went out to work, to earn enough money to buy basic food items, so that she could share it with her extended family and even needy neighbors.
She even adopted poorer relatives and bought milk for their babies during the war times. She was known to be so generous that she cooked for the villagers in her hometown. She did not stopped with these generous acts. She learnt skills like massage because she would helped out, even with mid-wife duties, because in her time, most people would birth their children at home. She lived to close to 100 years old, and while she never owned a home, she was never without a place to stay or even missed a meal because of lack.
What you give to others will multiply and return to you many times over. Even then whether you’re receiving or giving, it’s what you do with what you have and why you’re doing it that will determine how much satisfaction you will get.
Which will give you greater pleasure?
Anne Frank, a holocaust victim wrote in her diary,” No one has ever become poor by giving.”
