“When you enchant people, your goal is not to make money from them or to get them to do what you want, but to fill them with great delight.” ~Guy Kawasaki
To give without expecting an immediate, commensurate repayment, is a freeing act. There is true, intrinsic satisfaction in knowing that you have extended yourself towards another, you have made available your special talents or possessions for their benefit, with no other agenda than to simply offer solace, joy or inspiration. For the recipient of your no strings-attached offering, such an act can be the trigger of a restoration of hope, gratefulness and trust, feelings which in themselves can keep on giving long after the original goodwill gesture took place.
Rather than random acts of kindness (a refreshing concept nonetheless!) consider sustained, unattached sharing of what only you can share: your special insight, your unique abilities, your presence. Often the people most in need of receiving your focused time are the ones nearest you. We tend to shortchange them, during the usual busy day, since we know they will still be there tomorrow. However, there is not another today, and an opportunity for closeness and genuine connection is sometimes lost for good.
There is value in giving without expecting anything in return. There is also value in allowing ourselves to be at the receiving end of others’ warm generosity. Both allow basic human kindness to flow freely, and elevate our human race to a higher level, a little more each time.
“Be focused on action and not on the fruits of action. Do not become confused in attachment to the fruit of your actions and do not become confused in the desire for inaction” ~Bhagavad Gita
