The Soul Lives Forever-Daily Meditation 4.6.23

Today’s quotation:

The soul lives forever by giving, not receiving.  This is a grand paradox.  You get the most by giving the most.  Conversely, by receiving much, you impoverish yourself.  By selfish accumulation, you become bankrupt.-Julian P. Johnson

Today’s Meditation:

I’ve always had a bit of difficulty in giving because I’ve always been afraid of ending up not having enough for myself.  I may want to give a significant amount of money to a charity, but I fear running out of money eventually.  A lot of this is typical of an Adult Child of an Alcoholic–after all, when an entire paycheck disappeared within a weekend of heavy drinking, the rest of the family had to do without for a whole month.  So we learned to fear running out of things, which makes giving up what we have much more difficult.

I’ve learned since then, though, that giving rarely causes great hardship, especially when one gives wisely and examines what one has before giving.  In fact, I’ve learned that giving seems to open up a flow of more coming to me– the more I’ve given, the more I’ve had.  It’s extraordinary how it works, but it’s genuine.  Perhaps it’s psychological, and my giving makes me feel better about myself, which makes others feel better about me.  Perhaps it’s the Law of Attraction in action.  I don’t know why or how it works, but it does–“you get most by giving most.”

It often happens that what I get isn’t the same as what I give.  I may give up my time and end up receiving something else entirely.  I may give off money and end up receiving food.  Once I let go of my expectations of what I should receive, I allow life to give me what it knows I need rather than what I think I should get.

It’s a shame that fear keeps us from giving our goods, love, compassion, money, and time.  We really do ourselves and everyone else a favor when we decide to be givers, and we contribute much more to the world as a whole when we give than we do when we focus on keeping what we believe to be “ours.”

Questions to consider:

Why are so many people afraid to give up what they have?

How can we shift our behavior to become givers rather than hoarders?

What can you give right now to someone else who may need it more than you need it?

For further thought:

You must give if you want to receive.  Let the center of your being be one of giving, giving, giving.  You can’t give too much and will discover you cannot give without receiving.-Peace Pilgrim

If you missed yesterday’s Daily Meditation, it is right here.