Giving

If you ask people why they give, you mostly hear these answers: God wants me to, I feel better about myself, others need and I have, I want to share, It's only right, etc. A hazy halo encircles these good-hearted answers, and if we bring it into focus, it seems true that: Giving takes you out of yourself. One way or another, most of our daily actions follow the principle of more is better, whereas giving means having less. Does anyone want to have less? Or do the spiritual teachers want us to have less? Definitely, the answer to these questions is NO. In giving, all we need do is awaken, to become aware of those around us. Every encounter is an opportunity to give. Our siblings, spouse, children, friends, relatives, co-workers, boss, customers, and all those we meet will gratefully accept our gifts. In giving we need to cultivate our compassion for others and share with them all that we have to give. The greatest gift we have to offer is that of time, for time is what life is made of. As our only nonrenewable resource, it is precious. What greater way of expressing love, than by devoting time to those we care about and those in need? When giving results in an experience of love, joy, peace, community, charity, caring, and self-worth, the process of expansion of the self has beg un. You get a glimpse of ecstasy, and open a conduit for the kind of happiness that no one can ever steal from you. This semester, my Craft wisely junior semi nar class will be completing the Red Scarf project and the Conway Cradle Care project, where we are giving to the society. This will be a great Joy to me, seeing myself touching somebody else’s life through devoting my time by Crafting. I believe what we are doing in class is a wonderful experienc e for everyone doing it, and at the end we are all going to be proud of the good work. This summer I visited the Heifer ranch in Perryville, AR and was really impressed by the good work they are doing. They are raising animals and donating them to people especially the ones in need, then the people raise the animals and donate the baby animals to the next person, in that way the whole society is helped through Heifer donating only one animal to one person in a particular village/area. On the right is a picture of me when I went to the Heifer ranch, I was also knitting my red scarf for the "Red Scarf Project". Through the successes of the Heifer project, I learned how giving one person can lead to helping the society.