Your Greatest Success In Life Lies In How You Are Prepared To Give
By: Maria Rattray
Tags: Christmas Gifts, Sharing, Charity, Giving, Charitable Giving

Your Greatest Success In Life Lies In How You Are Prepared To Give

Photo by Benigno Hoyuela on Unsplash

It’s the stuff of nightmares, isn’t it!

You have selected presents for your children, and maybe your family, put them on lay-by for Christmas, and then the dreaded virus strikes, you lose your job, and your plans for paying for them off over time, are now in tatters.

It strikes a feeling of dread in your heart, doesn’t it!

You’ve never been out of work, and at the time, paying things off over time, didn’t seem like a gamble.

But now it does. Without an income, and with a debt you thought you’d planned for, you are at sea.

But bear in mind, no man is an island.

That same dread can be applied to many small businesses, and store owners as well, as they are the ones left holding the proverbial baby.

How must they be hurting?

But suddenly, for some at least, there is a Sanity Clause (my pseudonym, in this case, for somebody who can help, and does something about it, making others breathe more easily…bit like Santa really!).

‘An anonymous ‘Santa’s helper’ has paid off all the lay-bys at a toy store on Queensland’s Gold Coast, totaling more than $16,000, with customers surprised and emotional with the gesture of Christmas goodwill, after a tough year’.

Imagine that!

Somebody with a spare sixteen thousand smackaroos, walks into Mr Toys Toyworld at Burleigh Waters, Queensland, and pays off a heap of lay-bys.

Now that’s not something you hear of every day.

Picture the scene. In the midst of so much fear and doubt, people suddenly receive phone calls to tell them their debt is fully-paid, and now they can pick up their gifts.

Can you imagine the tears, the sobbing, the incredulity, and the questions about how they might thank their benefactor?

So the stuff of nightmares, suddenly becomes the stuff of dreams.

One benefactor…so much happiness…and we think:

If only we could all be so generous.

If only we had the resources to help others in need.

If only we didn’t feel the need to keep our wealth for our protection

If only…

If only is the preface to something that at the end of the day is little more than an excuse.

The thing is, everyone of us can give…and we should.

Because our world needs people to care, to care less about themselves, and more about others, to dig deep, and then deeper still, to reach out because we can.

More importantly, the world needs us not to judge

We can guess at a person’s situation, but we are not charged with being on the judiciary.

If you have have never stood in someone’s shoes, you have never felt their pain, nor shared in their sleepless nights, so you can’t know.

If you have never had to explain to your children that Santa won’t be coming this year, or about why they can’t have a birthday party, then yours is not to Tut-Tut.

If you have never stood in a welfare queue where you have had to explain your poverty away, pray that you never have to.

If you know in your heart that you could have paid someone’s bills and didn’t, do it now. There are no pockets in a shroud!

Success in life

Success does not emanate from how much we have accrued in life, our oversized homes, or our fancy cars, our impressive share portfolios, or our savings accounts.

Until we are ready to give, and do, and be, we will be always, lesser beings.

Giving doesn’t have to be money, or providing shelter, or paying off a debt.

We all have something to give, be it friendship, time, or talents. I can think of nobody who hasn’t got at least two of these three attributes, to share.

And things…what about things?

These are the ‘thneeds’ (that everyone, everyone, everyone needs! Thank you Dr. Seuss!). How many ‘thneeds’ do you have…all the things you bought but never use…those things that are stuffed away in cupboards…the extras that never see light of day, yet somehow you can’t bear to part with them.

Tell me what is better

having all your treasures carefully stashed away…because they cost you money, and you can’t bear to part with them

or… emptying those cupboards and giving the contents to the needy, no questions asked

still having your daughter’s piano, good as the day it was bought, but she rarely plays it and it’s still in pristine condition

or… delivering the lovely piano to a poor, but musical family where the children really want to play

and…maybe factoring in a weekly piano lesson for those same children

What would be your payment?

What might it look like?

What might it feel like?

I’ll give you a clue. It’s BIG and it makes you feel like a giant of kindness.

It starts with ‘pure’ and ends with ‘joy’.

Joy is what each of us needs right now. So think about giving, and doing, and being, and caring, and be prepared for the pure and utter joy that will come your way.

Imagine the joy of that lay-by benefactor

Do you think she was wealthy? Sometimes the poorest people are the most generous.

Did something happen in her life that inspired her to be generous with what she had? Who knows?

Did she just realize how bountiful her life was, that she needed for nothing, and she wanted to donate so others could have? Who knows again?

This is what we do know.

‘As for the identity of the donor and her two friends, staff would only say the trio looked like they were aged in their late 20s or early 30s.’

But here’s what I think.

She sees the world rather differently to the vast majority.

She’s discovered that giving makes her feel better.

She doesn’t see the world as a rather large pie that she has to have her slice of.

She’s an optimist. She knows that her giving will have a ripple effect.

Her Christmas will be a happier one, knowing that in some ways she has brought joy to others.

And our world can only smile, and feel lighter, knowing that such people exist. You might pass this woman in the street. She will look like many other young women, and yet you won’t know.

So be that woman! Give of your talents, your time, your help, and feel the weight of the world lighten.

Generosity we know, makes our world a better place. Giving makes our hearts and minds grow fuller. Giving begets giving.

Have you ever experienced this level of generosity? Is this something you might do?

It doesn’t have to be big. Small acts of kindness can have monumental effects, ripples and tsunamis of relief that we might not be prepared for.