After a talk on my co-authored book The Power of Giving (with Harvey McKinnon), someone from the audience approached me to comment positively on the speech. I asked her my favorite question: “What is your one specific take-home idea from hearing the speech?”. She replied, “Your quote, – [Ask not] what you will lose by giving, but rather what will you lose by not giving!”
That, dear friends, is a paradigm shift. Instead of thinking of the time you will lose by doing voluntary work, think of the loss you will incur in learning leadership and interpersonal skills by not volunteering your time.
Instead of thinking of the money you will lose by giving donations,
think of the loss of abundance and attraction you will invite from giving.
Giving is one of the most potent forces in the universe. The more you give, the more you create and innovate. The more you give, the more you tap into your genius and potential. Giving is a grace and invites abundance.
Giving is not a burden or an inconvenience.
If you close your fist, you cannot receive. When you open your hand and give, you can also receive. When you stop giving, you stop creating! The more in the flow of giving you are, the more giving flows through you. The more in the flow of abundance you are, the more abundance flows through you. Abundance can be in many forms: in wealth, spirituality, relationships, and health. It can be yours if you make giving an ongoing part of your life.
The clouds serve when they open up and supply rain, which is essential for the survival of crops and wild vegetation which in turn feeds mankind. A candle ignites another flame without losing any of its own light. Flowers lovingly give their fragrance to every passerby and are admired for their beauty and elegance. They bloom as they give!
A cow needs to give its milk before it can produce more milk. A sheep needs to be sheared so it can produce more wool. When a tree produces fruit that no one takes, the fruit falls down and rots. When the river stops flowing, it stagnates. When you stop giving, you stop creating! Human beings need to give in order to achieve meaning and purpose.
Therefore next time you are called to give – be it time, money, skills, knowledge, wisdom or good wishes – think not of what you will lose by giving; instead think of what you will lose by not giving!