True, false, both, or neither?
"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give."
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This question brought up more questions for me.
* If the quote was followed by a name, would it affect our answer to the question of truth? Would it affect the thought paths or forests our individual minds would wander through? (My guess... probably.)
* How much does what we get affect what we give and vice versa? Example 1: If during our formative years we are rarely encouraged to follow our curiosity, will we be more or less likely to offer encouragement to others. Example 2: If we offer a sincere smile to everyone we meet, are we likely to receive more smiles from friends and strangers?
In our travels I've noticed that people who feel deeply secure tend to be more generous with others.
It doesn't seem to matter how much they objectively have, but how comfortable they *feel*. I've met stingy billionaires and generous paupers. And stingy paupers and generous millionaires. And mostly very generous and kind people who are neither exceptionally rich nor particularly poor.
But I'm not just talking about material wealth.
Those who are generous with their smiles and conversation and even their judgements of others' behavior or character are generally those who feel secure.
Even in myself: I have noticed over the years that I am generous with my time when I feel I have plenty of it. If I feel rushed or hurried, I can be quite inattentive of the needs of my loved ones.
Somehow all of this feels related to a struggle I've had with my own internal voices about how much I do and how important the things I do are in the big scheme of things.
Which brings me round to the question...
What do I have to give, right here, right now? What can I do right now to remove the obstacles to offering up whatever that is?
One of my obstacles is an internal judge and jury that says things like, "Not good enough. How dare you? Who do you think you are?"
On that note, I think I'll leave this here and do a little yoga and meditation now. Those voices often seem quieter after a contemplative practice.
