Taking More Than Willing To Give

Give and take is nothing new for anyone. As early as one could learn one has indulged in a form of ‘give and take’. In infancy we did it with gestures, vocalisations and facial expressions. During adolescence, "give and take" was told to refer to the social and emotional development, then as teenagers we learnt to balance own needs with the needs of others and contributed to relationships and society.

Soon we were made to realise everything is negotiations of give and take. Community was given to understand as a give and take of knowledge, experience and service with a price. Relationships were explained to be successful if it had a give and take. Working in a team was taught is more than a collection of people it too had the strong process of give and take. The principle of the trader is a give and take policy. The whole point of collaboration is that you give and take from each other. Harsh words time and again were said cautioning don’t expect to receive if you’re not willing to give. How much right or wrong was all that.

An elder’s story on a Tapasvi is some learning. The tapasvi for several years stayed in isolation up the hills involved in self-discipline and austerity through meditation and other spiritual practices but was not contended. Every day in prayer seeked God’s intervention and one day a voice within the Tapasvi stirred a conversation and it said you are failing in your gratitude and taking things for granted. It is not just about you and me. It’s about you to see Me in everything and everyone.

The Tapasvi’s inner voice expressed you have never expressed gratitude to the stone you have been sitting and putting your weight on it since many years. You never thanked the tree for the shade it is providing and the fruits you consumed from them. When you quarrel with passers-by making them a reason for your disturbance, you have misunderstood yourself and your space on earth. You have taken nature for granted and never planted a tree in your surroundings.

The learning from Tapasvi’s living is enough for our minds to be summoned to a witness box and examine whether one is taking things for granted or taking them with gratitude. Living a life that aligns with religious or spiritual teachings is a form of expressing gratitude but the obvious if not understood of seeing the divine in everything and everyone can put us in the same state as the Tapasvi.

An insight into the phrase "taking more than willing to give” seems to express a sentiment related to gratitude, faith, and the relationship between humans and a higher power. Blessed are those who give without remembering and take without forgetting. Being mindful the virtues of generosity, compassion and contentment helps focus on the Divine surrendering to his will rather than the worldly desires and also contribute to the well-being of the society.

For the tiniest of our ‘give's’ we want all attention and expressions of gratitude from others. A correction to this is ‘not to give to get, give to inspire others to give'. One thinks we can’t give everyone but everyone can give someone.

We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude; The creator, His 5 elements of life, His given human life and the body, Him present as family… (keep adding). Every breath taken can be in gratitude for that moment and living in the spirit of gratitude there will be much happiness in our life.

We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.