Giving To Good

In a world jam-packed with distraction and distress, never has there been a greater need for connectivity. We need to know we are not alone. We need the assurance that there are others out there of like mind. We need to know we are part of something.

But meeting that need starts with the individual. True connectivity starts from within. Those who sit and wait for it to come to them will be disappointed.

Now perhaps more than ever before we need to understand that being with is not being present.

Being with means giving of ourselves not just of our company. We can be physically present but emotionally distant. If being present is the best we can manage to muster then it still has value. But hearing is more important than listening. Compassion is far stronger than companionship. And empathy trumps all.

We need to give of ourselves before we can truly receive from others and yet our generosity and self-sacrifice needs to be made without expectation.

So much unnecessary mental anguish is generated by the defensive and protective tendency to look inward at the expense of looking outward and coming to terms with reality.

It’s only by contributing that we can hope to make the world a better place. And it’s by contributing that we make ourselves a better person.