Contributing vs. Giving

I have always tried to give. Whether its money or time or something I have, if someone looks like they need it more than I do, I try to give (emphasis on try). The word giving itself has significant meaning for me. A lot of the ambition that drives me is centered around the idea that the more I have the more I can give. One of the greatest givers that I know (also one of my greatest teachers) is a living example of what you give, you get in return. He is successful beyond measure because he has given beyond measure.

Yet I find myself troubled by the word giving. It seems to me that it may convey the wrong meaning to that incremental group of people who would otherwise give if they understood it better. While the essence of giving is pure and great, the idea of a poor child in Africa giving his time or money is hard to swallow, pragmatic reasons aside. I find myself being drawn away from the idea of giving, I worry so much about what I have. The spiritual books I read say that if I worry less about what I have more will come to me. Don't get me wrong, I feel a great desire to give but I worry about what I have. This dichotomy within me creates unnecessary turmoil.

To quote The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz:

"The old man begins to tell you his story: "My teacher opened his chest and took out his heart, and he took a beautiful flame from his heart. Then he opened my chest, opened my heart, and he put that little flame inside it. He put my heart back in my chest, and as soon as my heart was inside me, I felt intense love, because the flame he put in my heart was his own love."

The story continues to where the old man began to spread this flame to everyone and everything he touched. This grew to be a big fire, one that did not burn but purified. It is from within this story that the idea that I am not giving but contributing a piece of me, a piece of my flame.

If you have ever cried at a story of heroics or triumph over great pain and felt a swelling of tears and emotion, this is your flame burning bright. In these moments of a bright flame, life becomes clear. What if our flame always burned this bright? If we take the wisdom of the story above we may make our fire brighter by contributing our flames to others. Its this essence, this contribution, that we see the true meaning of giving. By giving we become a piece of that which we have given to.

Giving becomes a lot easier when we picture in our mind that each time you give you are contributing a piece of your flame to another. This does not diminish yours but grows within another. If you could measure the flame that is yours that burns within you and others, how big would it be?