Give and Take

"Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting."

An important lesson many still have to learn. No matter where you are in life, there is always someone who has it worse than you. And it really only makes sense to give and help what you can to help those who truly do have it worse than you. It doesn't have to be a big contribution. Maybe buying a warm dinner for a homeless person, or donating money to the Red Cross, or some other charity. Or, perhaps, its just lending a shoulder to cry on or an ear for listening. The smallest action can make a difference in someone's life. Even if not for a long time, for some amount of time.

Or maybe its not charity, maybe its paying for your friends' lunch when they left their money at home, or helping a classmate with homework they're having trouble with. Giving is giving, no matter who it is directed towards.

In that spirit of giving, it only makes sense that one should not expect anything in return. The whole point of charity is to hep those who are less fortunate, not gain from those who are less fortunate. Seems like common sense to me, but greed has started to take over, generation by generation, and seemingly only getting worse. Our entire lives, we are told the importance of money and wealth, and it seems that the objective is not to become a successful man or woman in ones' profession, but the wealthiest, the most fortunate. Then, once one reaches that desired level of wealth, they are told that they should donate money to charity... and some do. But honestly, most of them are hypocrites. They strive to be known for doing their "good deeds", not for its effect. A truly charitble person doesn't care to be known at all. It kind of reminds me of that passage in the Bible, where Jesus tells his disciples that those who pray in the streets are hypocrites, that the true believers will pray behind closed doors. The concept of giving should be purely for giving, not for expecting anything in turn, and not to be held over someone's head for the rest of their life. When you give, simply give, and forget. God will remember, and so will the other person, so you don't have to worry about it.

On that same note, many times, people forget what they are given in their lives. When children disrespect their parents, they forget that the parents gave them life, shelter, food, water... well, most parents do. (I do understand there are a few exceptions to this statement). But most commonly, there is really nothing that the children have a right to complain about. Then, there are those who recieve kindness, someone returning a lost item, someone cooking dinner, paying for a meal, being there when no one else was... all are acts of kindness, that one does usually because they care about that person or the person's well being. And when someone complains, saying that they never get a break, that they have to do everything by themselves, they are deliberately disrespecting those who make an effort to aid them.

Why giving has become such a contest, I will never know. I myself am guilty of it, and I have to catch myself. I'm still working to become someone who can give without remembering and take without forgetting.

And when I become that person, I'll just... smile because it happened.