Is giving really better than receiving?

Giving most certainly is better than receiving. Giving is better than receiving for the giver!

It is a marvelous "gift" to be gifted with the "gift" of being able to give! It is wonderful to be enabled to become a giver. It is a blessing to become the recepient of the heart-felt gratitude and appreciation of persons to whom one has given.

The inner joy, the satisfaction and the sense of fulfillment and accomplishment that one experiences upon given a gift, that is truly appreciated and actually enriches the life of the recipient, is among the greatest of life's rewards.

As a young, person, I thought that receiving gifts was the greatest thing in life.

I was amazed when I discovered that being a giver was more rewarding than just being a receiver of gifts. It was that discovery, more than any other, that caused my sense of self worth to escalate.

It was during my adolescent years that I discovered the greater joy of giving. It happened when I saw the look of pure happiness and the spontaneous tears in the eyes of the first girl to whom I ever gave a birthday present.

The greater joy and the greater satisfaction of giving has been confirmed continuously, throughout my life every time that i have been able to give to family, friends, acquaintances and strangers.

Somewhere, along the way, I learned that there is no need to wait for special occasions such as birthdays and holidays. I learned that I should give whenever and wherever an appropriate and timely gift is likely to enrich someone's life.

Somewhere, along the way, my perception of what constitutes an appropriate gift was changed. I learned that what seemed a minor gift to me could actually be a gift of survival to someone in another place, living in circumstances different from my own. I learned to seek and find opportunities to give as often as possible.

I believe that every human being should be able to experience the uplifting feeling of giving. It is tragic that some persons are not fortunate enough to be able to become givers as well as receivers.

We whom life's circumstances have enabled to fulfill the role of givers are truly blessed.

We should consistently endeavor to do all that we can to help change the life circumstances of those who are not enabled to become givers. They too, deserve to experience the rewards of being givers as well as being receivers.

Learn more about this author, Calsue Murray.
Click here to send author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about Christmas presents: Giving versus receiving?
We want to hear your view. Write now!