Give before you can get

Give before you can get

In my research for “happiness in a bottle” . I came across various adages and quotations on happiness. Happiness is a choice thing- we can always choose happiness over unhappiness. It all comes down to perspective.
As a student of the art of happiness, I realized a very simple truth about happiness. ( the more you give the more you get), however this basic tenet about being there more joy in giving than receiving seems a bit hard to explain to a 5 year old.
Couple of days ago, my daughter and I were walking through a modern Hong Kong village and as usual I was giving her my pearls of wisdom about life and happiness and so on. As we were walking a little Chinese girl came out of her house and started looking at us. She must have been about 3-4 years old.
My daughter is 5 and a half and she was carrying a box of pretz . I told my daughter to give the box to the little girl and if she did that I would get her 2 in return. She stood there deliberating over it and tried to change the topic.
I stood firm and asked her to consider the offer one more time. She started bargaining with me and asked for 3 instead. We went back and forth and we finally agreed. As she was ready to part with her precious possession that she had managed to treble, she realized that the little girl had disappeared. She had gone back into the house and her grandfather had shut the door. Well! That was it, my daughter just lost her chance of trebling what she had.
We are the same; we hold on so tight for fear of losing what we have that we close ourselves to any other possibilities. Only if we could move beyond this fear, innumerable possibilities would open up.
Giving and gratitude allows us to receive more, where as selfishness brings about negative energy, because it implies lack. Feelings of lack close us towards the possibility of receiving and creating abundance. Truly recognizing the needs and wants of other people puts us in a higher vibration and allows for abundance to flow into our life.
Whatever you want more of, try giving it away. If you want more love, try giving love, you want more time, give your time to someone who needs it, you want more money, give money away. You want more happiness, try and make someone happy. You want more misery, go make someone miserable. You want good health……you don’t have to go and give your blood away, but go and spend some time with people who are unhealthy and bring a smile to their face, by giving them your time.
It is always the small things that make a big difference. A small seed becomes a big tree. A simple smile across the dance floor can find you the love of your life, A simple thank you can make someone’s day and just a change of your thought can bring about a change in your outside world.
It is true, that the more you give, the more you get. Just for one day…try and experience it for yourself. Do not for fear of losing hold on so tight that your hands get stuck in a fist and you are unable to open them to even receive. A closed fist can neither give, nor receive!!!!
Luv/luck/happiness