Learning how to give…
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
Learning how to give…
I’m just learning what it means to give. I’ve been beating myself up for a long time because I didn’t have any extra money to do the things I wanted to do, (like take my kids on vacation, pay my bills on time, buy my wife flowers…) let alone to give to a worthy cause. Then I spent 8 days walking and listening to a powerful series on learning how to give. If you want to invest eight hours in one of the most powerful series on giving go !!!! The day AFTER I completed listening to that series I got an email from Dave Wood about what it takes to “be happy”. Talk about mysterious ways…it was about giving. Now I’m going to twist your thinking about how you are ALREADY giving in ways you never thought about.
What can YOU/I give???
If all your money comes in on one day and three days later you are wondering where it all went and you are wondering how the hell you are meant “to give” then take one minute and evaluate what you have done. You gave your mortgage company a chunk and you get to stay in your house. You gave your power company a bit and you have a computer running where you can read this post. You paid a car note that lets you continue to drive that car around town. YOU are giving. Those are all the things you are doing for yourself. Giving to ALL those companies supports all the people and families that work for those companies. The next time you get upset about paying your bills…consider all the good you are doing in many peoples lives by supporting their family. Do you want to give to the poor?? Do you want to give to less fortunate people. You already did if you are a paycheck earning person. Whether you like or agree with your government they took taxes out of your check. When you GAVE your taxes to the government, they used those and took care of some less fortunate people. Whether you agree with how that money was spent or not, it was earned by YOU and given to them. Let’s not evaluate the EFFECTIVE use of tax dollars and stay with the concept. You GAVE to the others through your tax dollars. Stop and be grateful for a moment if you are gainfully employed either for yourself or working for someone else. You ARE ABLE to give to others through your tax dollars. If you don’t like what “they” do with it. Choose someone aligned with your thinking the next time you vote.
Time and talent is more important than money
Several years ago, I took a business from start up to the very top of the company. I invested many hours of time and energy into that business. What I didn’t realize was I had compromised the most important thing in the world, my family. I made a ton of money. We had fabulous “stuff”. What my family didn’t have was MY TIME. I made a decision to work LESS and spend more time with my family. My kids didn’t want the “stuff” they wanted their dad. I was able to give in ways I never thought was important. I started going to events at school, soccer games, dance recitals. Win or lose, it didn’t matter if I was there. Giving can be done with more than money. If you want to give something that REALLY matters, give your time to someone else. Give them your talent, wisdom, and experience. Give honestly from your heart and give abundantly. I heard a fabulous formula for learning WHAT to give. Take your talents, add your passions and find out the needs of your local church. Line those three up and you will know what to give. Do what you are great at and you will never work a day in your life. Some rich guy said that. Why? Cause he lined his talents up with his passions and loved every minute of every day. Gave a bunch away and lived a very happy life.
It’s all how you look at things. If you wanna read a quick ditty on attitude check this out Attitude is Everything