Give from the Abundance within You

"Give from the Abundance within You"

I heard this from a talk on giving abundantly.   It made an impression.   The speaker's point was that in the process of giving abundantly, of your gifts, talents, time, strength, and yes, pocketbook, that you will feel that same abundance come back to you.

I know what you are thinking.  I thought the same thing.   "What comes around goes around."  "Give and it will be given unto you."  "Giving is reciprocal!"

Yet, there is always that little voice inside that says, "If I give this away I will no longer have it."  "What if I need it later?"  "If I give out of my abundance to everyone, then I will soon end up with nothing at all."

I tell you now, that voice is still there.   It is still very loud.  It dissuades me still from giving out of my abundance.   Yet, I try to overcome it.   I have thought long and hard, and then I have felt long and hard about what it means to be able to give.   Not what it means to give.   We all know that.   Really, what does it mean to have the ability, the very motivation, to begin the action of giving?

1.  Being in the position to give simply means that some part of me recognizes that I am blessed with more than another might have.  

No matter how bad I have been in debt, how tired and worn, how sick, how incapacitated; I have know those around me that had it worse than me.   Being able to see me situation in that frame of reference, some of my fear and insecurities turned to gratitude.   First there was that relief that I was not as bad off as that other person, but then the realization that I could be that other person.   One missed paycheck, one wrong turn, one hospital bill more; I am that other person.   Finally, the thankfulness, the awareness of the grace that I am as blessed as I am.  That is gratitude.

2.  An awareness that I can give, that I have the ability and the resources to give, brings about another change in perspective.   At that point, I see that I can choose to see myself as the source for others of those things I feel I lack in my life. 

What this does is change my thoughts from, "I don't have enough!" to "You no longer need to feel like you do not have enough!"  This change in fundamental.  In allowing another to experience what I wish to experience, I am shifting the focus from me to another, from my scarcity to another's experience of abundance.

By seeing myself as the source of what I lack, I no longer lack it.   This is subtle, I know.  But true.  I cannot give something away (even if it is a buck) if I truly feel that I do not have it.   Therefore, by giving it away, I am telling myself in no uncertain terms that I, in fact, do have it to give away.

3.  In that position and possibility of giving to another, I recognize that that other person and myself are connected.   No matter who that other person might be, we have the same needs, the same desires.   We both want to see ourselves and our families fed, clothed, sheltered.  We both realize that everything changes.  Our life might be up one day and down another.  We might have plenty and the next hour nothing at all.  When I recognize the similarities, the connectedness with another, it is so much easier to give.  Since we both came from the same source, and are going back to the same source; since we each have this short life within eternity, how can I not be motivated to help another.   In essence, I am helping myself.

I hope that his holiday find you in an abundant state of mind.