Live to Give and the Rewards Will Come

By Dana McClellan

Most of us are familiar with the concept of sowing and reaping, but it seems that when we come into some type of struggle, life becomes all about us and our own survival. We go inward and get stuck in an immobilizing state; our thoughts fixed on the problem/s. Sometimes we can go so deep into ourselves that we are oblivious to anything else--including the people we love and should be caring for. It is a very selfish place to be, stuck in a downward spiral where we think the world should revolve around us--but isn't.

I recently watched a series of YouTube videos featuring Tony Robbins "Breakthrough" show which aired on NBC a couple years ago. Each one had me choked up and crying like a baby. I could relate. He gathered up some people who had gone through some pretty extreme adversity and had not been able to pull themselves out of it. Tony would have them go through exercises that would: 1. Get them out of their environment; 2. Shock them into a different state; 3. Get them to confront their real issues; 4. Expand their limits; 5. Change their perspective; 6. Own the lesson; 7. Design a compelling future.

Many of us can relate to what it's like to be so buried in crap that our environment is like quicksand, pulling us down into what feels like the center of the earth; then how much better we feel when we can leave that environment to clear our minds. The first five of the exercises in the show were designed to get these people to see things from a different perspective. One of the ways he accomplished this was to have them go to a place where there were people far less fortunate (from our point of view) and then live among them. He would leave them there until he was sure they really understood the lesson. They were only able to prove they understood the lesson by getting outside of themselves and helping others. That was key.

Do we all need to go that far to get the lesson? Some of us do. Some of us actually want to in order to fully understand the issues and pain. This is called empathy and it is an emotional giving. There are two other categories of giving--each equally important; we can give financially and we can give of our time. The problem with financial giving by itself, is that it's usually more of an impersonal gift. The giver may have heartfelt intentions or it may just be a tax write-off. To fully understand the human condition and empathize with it, there is no other way but to entrench ourselves in the midst of it all and show others we care. We may not have the same understanding as those doing the suffering, but sometimes all another human being needs to know is that someone else can SEE him or her.

I know that in the title of this post I said "the Reward Will Come" and I would like to make something clear about that. I'm not saying that where we give should depend on what we'll get out of it. There are many types of rewards. What you are passionate about will usually determine how you will be rewarded. I happen to be passionate about helping women find hope. It's something I can relate to. Maybe you are someone with some type of disability and you can help others through theirs? Maybe you're someone who has been homeless or close to it and can help people through that experience? There are many, many people who are addicted to one thing or another, and who once ready, could definitely use some mentoring on the subject of staying clean. When and where do you experience empathy? There is no end to how we can give of ourselves. What else could we possibly be here for if it's not to benefit the rest of humanity?

We can pull ourselves out of the darkness by taking the hand of someone else and helping them out. In a perfect world the cycle of reaching out and paying it forward would continue. All we can do is our own part. If we continually act in this manner and make it an important part of our lives--the rewards will come when and where we least expect them to. Into our spirit, health, finances, relationships and in many other areas.

Live to give and watch the laws of attraction in action.

One Love!
Dana

By the way, Tony Robbins went to my high school (Glendora High, in Glendora, California). He was a senior when I was a sophomore. This is a picture of him I took out of my yearbook :-)