'You know what we got for Akshay's birthday?' asked my daughter to her
brother while walking home from the day care. She was holding a chocolate cake. 'Don't worry, we will share it once home, ok?' she
reassured as he stared at the chocolate-oozing cake. I was mightily impressed hearing this from the four year old. It
occurred to me then that this was a result of my wife repeatedly emphasizing the need for
them to share with each other whatever they received. All parents do.
That was two years back.
After my recent Facebook post on 'giving,' I quickly checked with people around me about 'giving' and how, what, and when they would. All I got was diplomatic responses. Most said it depends on the situation. It is apparent. As adults, we tend to overlook what others would want, expect or like. We get conditioned into carrying out what we want. After all, we want to let others know how ambitious we are and so we'd rather focus on how fast we can climb the ladder of success. And, the thought of giving gets relegated - for another time - when we have enough time.
I came across 'the power of giving,' where the authors had this to say : Souls are like athletes who need opponents worthy of them if they are to be tried and extended and pushed to the full use of their powers. That’s an insightful analogy, for just as your muscles weaken without physical exercise, so does your soul weaken without its special kinds of exercise. A great exercise for your soul is the practice of giving. As with physical exercise, the more you do it, the easier it is, and the stronger you will become. Can we exercise our souls?
1 comment:
Pensiveness persists. ai'nt it?
I can't boast I am a natural giver or a sharer. But I have passed some simple tests on occasion. The instance in question was a training class room, I was attending while in service. The degrees of teamwork was being tested.
The trainees were devided into several teams of three in each. Everyone was given non-matching pieces of a jigsaw puzzle in a packet. Empty the packets and you would find that you have some pieces that don't match while others have the pieces you need. Same with others too. You couldn'd ask for them but wait for them to give up the pieces while you would give them the pieces you have in excess. Everyone was holding on to the pieces they had even the unwanted ones while looking to others for pieces they thought needed. I for an exception, pushed all my pieces to my teammates to share according to their need. I felt that I could wait till they quickly finished their task and pushed the unwanted pieces to me so that in no time I could set my jigsaw too. Naturally our team finished first and only team performances were measured and not individuals'.
Thus I reassured myself that I could give, share and then take where the "whole" mattered.
Post a Comment