The Spirit of Giving

We live in a fast-paced world, and it’s too easy to get caught up in what is marketed as ‘must haves’ for a good life. Behind the big plans and grand strategies, is a simplicity of life that is actually quite beautiful. The ‘Spirit of Giving’ reminds us of this.

Imagine life as a circle. Starting at the top of the circle, we begin life as a thin, unencumbered line. At this stage we are free from all the masks we will eventually wear. We have no expectations. We just are. Then we start traveling downward on our journey through the circle very easily and quickly. Along the way we start to accumulate things — knowledge, skills, material possessions, cultural biases, and other baggage. The line becomes thicker and thicker, and the increasing weight can become overwhelming, and make our journey very tough. In some situations, the weight of it all may even put us at risk of losing everything we’ve learnt and gained.

To stop it becoming so thick we can start to give things away. This is where we teach what we learn, stop accumulating things that weigh us down, acknowledge our cultural and identity baggage and actively address it. If we are struggling, we must find ways to let go of those struggles — tell our stories so that we may become free of them. Within every piece of baggage we carry, there are valuable jewels waiting to be discovered and passed on as the gifts that they are meant to be. If we can’t see them as gifts, maybe others can.

The journey continues to the other side of the circle. We must climb the steepest part of the circle, and now we must give away everything so that we can travel back to the top. The best way to get to the top is as a thin line. The thin line that we started with is all we really need, and it is there with us throughout our journey. Once we realise this, letting go becomes easier. Maybe we’ve already done our best with things in our care, or maybe we recognise that there are others around who can do better with them now. By giving we are relieved of the weight of material things, while the skills, experience, and knowledge can inform others on their journeys. The spirit of letting go is intertwined with the spirit of sharing and caring about others.

The Spirit of Giving is not just an act of kindness, it is a transformative way of living. It encourages us to shed the weight of materialism and ego, deepen our appreciation of the simple things in life, and cast our thoughts to the wellbeing of others – including planet Earth – through this circle of life.

If you enjoyed this, you might like other ‘spirit catalysts’ (concepts that foster our spirit), for example ‘The Five Dimensions of Favourite Place’ found in chapter one of my book Just Add Spirit.