Fullfillment Might be with regards to Helping Others - Part 1

In life, we work and receive something in return for the tasks rendered. When we work, we give our time and efforts; we receive as a result of giving and the act of receiving is the act of being given. For some people who have more than what they need, they share their blessings by giving and sharing to the unfortunate either directly or through charitable organizations. When we give, we never expect the receivers to return because we all know deep inside our hearts that giving to others gives us joy and fulfillment.

Giving doesn’t involve only money nor gifts but also giving time to others whether they be family members, friends or total strangers who may need a bit of your time and attention. Time is the greatest gift we can offer to those who are in need if we don’t have enough financial resources to spare for time is the essential of life which is precious and non-renewable. When we give time to people we care and to those in need, we also express our love and devotion to them. Our friends become closer to us when we lend them our shoulders to lean on and spare them some of our precious time to appease them of their pains. This is also true to our enemies. By giving, we change them into friends. As a consequence of such giving, we feel joy, love, kindness and peace when we see the joy and appreciation of the receivers.

“The deaths of Mother Teresa and Princess Diana remind us of our own mortality. It's almost as if they were whispering, "The time to give is now." Or, as Marcus Aurelius wrote in the second century, "Live not as though there were a thousand years ahead of you. Fate is at your elbow; make yourself good while life and power are still yours." (Chuck Gallozzi)

On Giving
An excerpt from "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran

Then said a rich man, "Speak to us of Giving."
And he answered:

You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.

For what are your possessions but things
you keep and guard
for fear you may need them tomorrow?
And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow
bring to the over prudent dog
burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the
pilgrims to the holy city?
And what is fear of need but need itself?
Is not dread of thirst when your well is full,
the thirst that is unquenchable?

There are those who give little
of the much which they have-
and they give it
for recognition and their hidden desire
makes their gifts unwholesome.
And there are those who have little and give it all.
These are the believers in life and the bounty of life,
and their coffer is never empty.
There are those who give with joy,
and their joy is their reward.
And there are those who give with pain,
and that pain is their baptism.
And there are those who give and know not
pain in giving, nor do they seek joy,
nor give with mindfulness of virtue:
They give as in yonder valley the myrtle
breathes its fragrance into space.
Through the hands of such as these God
speaks, and from behind their eyes
He smiles upon the earth.

It is well to give when asked, but it is
better to give unasked, through understanding:
And to the open-handed the search for
one who shall receive is joy greater than giving.
And is there aught you would withhold?
All you have shall someday be given:
Therefore give now, that the season of
giving may be yours and not your inheritors`.

You often say, “I would give, but only to the deserving."
The trees in your orchard say not so,
nor the flocks in your pasture.
They give that they may live,
for to with-hold is to perish.
Surely he who is worthy to receive his
days and nights, is worthy of all else from you.
And he who has deserved to drink from
the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream.
And what desert greater shall there be,
than that, which lies in the courage and the
confidence, nay the charity, of receiving?
And who are you that men should rend
their bosom and unveil their pride,
that you may see their worth naked and their pride unabashed?
See first that you yourself deserve to be
a giver, and an instrument of giving.

For in truth it is life that gives unto life-
while you, who deem yourself a giver are but a witness.

And you receivers- and you are all
receivers- assume no weight of gratitude,
lest you lay a yoke upon
yourself and upon he who gives.
Rather rise together with the giver on his gifts as on wings:
For to be over mindful of your debt, is
to doubt his generosity who has the
free-hearted earth for mother, and God for father

Kahlil Gibran's book, published in 1923 is especially relevant and  helpful
for these times and is a wonderful gift for yourself or a loved one.

Thank you Leticia for allowing me to "borrow" this write...