Last update: January 13, 2017
Giving is an act of faith, the only real proof of which is love. It is an act of affection that arises from the heart and spreads with closed eyes. And it is the quantity of good implied in this act that measures its strength. Indeed, giving for no other purpose may be simple, but offering voluntarily and sincerely is not.
So, no: it is not only what you are able to give to others or receive from them that counts, but also the love you invest or collect in every action. It seems like a contradiction, but to be able to fill our soul, it is necessary to share the emotional intensity that is inside it.
The act of giving can fill as much as the act of receiving
It seems that the idea of ​​receiving something from someone implies the idea of ​​adding, while the concept of giving implies that of subtracting. It is likely that sometimes these two things coincide, and that they do, but there are many other cases where this law is contradicted: sometimes we don't realize it, but offering may be able to feed us as much, or more, than obtain.
“Of what we earn, we can live; however, what we give builds life. "
-Arthur Ashe-
It is true that both are important. In fact, giving with an open heart, for the mere pleasure of doing it, is worth as much as knowing how to receive something from others. Both one and the other action imply a dynamic that must be produced reciprocally, generating happiness and personal satisfaction.
We receive and earn, but we give and can earn even more. The ancient Greeks already considered in the past that the emotional intelligence of people resided in the heart. For this reason, the really important thing is the love you deliver to others through what you give and the emotion you receive when they give you something, not the superficial act of doing it.
The heart feeds and beats with energy, thanks to the balance between giving and receiving.
When to give is also to give
Following this line of thinking, it is safe to say that talking about giving and receiving with the heart means giving ourselves as persons and welcoming what others want to transmit to us. Interpersonal relationships are nothing more than this: a small piece of our soul flies to others every time we give with sincerity, and an essential part of the other takes root within us when we open ourselves to receive it.
Giving without affection means nothing, doing a favor out of interest is not kind, thinking of someone else out of simple duty is superficial, etc. In reverse, if we put love into everything we do, everything changes.
In this case, if we put love in the act of giving, we will enrich what we give. We are taking off the mask, we will be opening the doors of the most vulnerable corner of our being, to let out our purest self.
“Nobody is more generous
of those who give themselves. "
-P. Luis Carlos Aparicio Mesones
This part of us is the one that is worth the most and that will remain most impressed in the people around us. If someone does something for us with their heart, we will be able to perceive how that action leaves its mark on our memory. Sincere emotional acts remain locked away in that drawer in which we store the memories, objects, people or ideas that really matter to us throughout our lives.
When you give with love, something always comes back
You may be thinking that you are giving more than you are receiving, and that it is not right. On the contrary, almost certainly sometimes you will get tired of not seeing any feedback from others, when you always go out of your way. The disappointment we feel when we perceive all of this has less to do with not receiving than with thinking that perhaps we are not really important to those people.
However, we can tell you one thing: when you give with love, sooner or later something, however small it may seem to you, always comes back.
To be able to grasp it, we must be good observers. We have to look and understand who is taking advantage of us and who, instead, loves us, and at that point filter our generosity in a healthier way. When we do, we will probably be able to notice a simple smile full of gratitude, a few words of affection, or a small gesture that tries to make us happy.
“One possesses only what one gives.
We don't own ourselves until we give ourselves.
True service requires sacrifice. "
-Emmanuel Mounier-
Grasping all of this may seem difficult, but it's not impossible. We cannot live in society if we do not believe in reciprocity, in the goodness of the human being and in mutual gratitude. We deserve a love that we must be able to give if we are to maintain healthy self-esteem.
Images courtesy of Pascal Campion
