Of course, everyone knows how to give. It makes us feel good to help other people and to give to those that we love and watch the smiles on thier faces. We love the time when we watch our loved ones receive our gifts escpeically children at christmas and on birthdays because there excitment is uncontaineable!!.We lose so much when we grow up. Like how to have that uncontainable excitement when you recieve a surprise. There are other things that we lose as we grow up that we really need to try to get back as adults. One of those things is to be a graceful receiver. You see a dear dear friend of mine Don Bryan told me one time that I needed to learn to receive. That I had no trouble giving but I had a lot of trouble receiving. Everyone knows what it feels like at christmas time to sit around and feel a bit uncomfortable as everyone watches you unwrap your gifts. I use to prefer for everyone to tear into there gifts everyone at one time and thank each other as we went along! So that no one would stare while I opened my gifts even though I loved them all. As Callie has told you many times before, I have been sick for quite some time. I have been confined to a wheelchair for years at a time and instead of asking for help I invented ways of doing things like getting up stairs by myself even if that meant going up each step on my butt and dragging my wheelchair behind me. Don had had enough, he pulled me to the side and he said “Why won’t you let other people bless you. Belive me they need it! It makes people feel good to help others. There is a difference between taking advantage of people and letting others help you when you truely need it: and you know the difference. There is nothing wrong with being proud of your accomplishments but there is something wrong with being to proud to let others help you when you need help.” As Don told me that day, giving is fun and it makes you feel good but if you don’t allow others to give to you, you are taking away thier chance of feeling good and doing good for others. Sometimes all people have is the ability to give of themselves at a given moment and because of pride you take that away from them. When you look at things that way, letting others help you when you really need it can make you feel just as good as giving to others, when they really need it. After that speech I realized how guilty I was of being to proud to accept help and I felt ashamed. I promised myself that I would let others bless me when I could as my gift to enable them the same joy that I get when I get to help others. It doesn’t have to be anything big something as small as opening the door for someone when their hands are full or picking up something someone dropped can change someones day. The reverse is also true. Sometimes we need to be the receipant. That is all it takes! Opening yourself up and not feeling guilt over help can send a wave of joyful giving and you begin to see a circle of giving in life. Everyone learns and is able to love. So open your heart and do both… give and receive. We are blessed so that we may bless others but the opposite is true. Be a graceful receiver it is an art.
Peace and Love,
Duncan Wheeler