The power of giving cannot be underestimated.
Give away love, get lots of love back.
Give away money, more $ comes back to you.
Give away stuff, and it makes room for more and better things to come to into your life.
P.S. Teach your kids to give away their toys and games so they learn this principle early in life and they’ll understand and see the power it brings later in life.
Give away talent, and talent builds back within you. (Think practice, practice, practice.)
Give your time, service, and money to your church, and these seeds of service and charity find their way back to you in flowers of abundance.
There are multiple references to giving with positive intent in the Bible.
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap.”
Luke 6:38
Funny thing – when you demonstrate a giving spirit, others see that and the impact it has, and that attracts them to you. They want to emulate you so they can experience the same feeling and in turn have a similar positive impact. Powerful.
It’s important to note I’m not just talking about writing checks.
Quick story.
In the mid-1990’s I worked as communications manager in a large department of one of the largest financial services companies in the world. I was talking with a colleague, Jim, over lunch. We were bantering about a project we were working on together, and somehow, I wound up taking on way more of the workload than others on the team.
I wasn’t complaining – really. I was “just sayin.”
I went above and beyond the call of duty and took on a lot more than I got paid for, so we could get the project done right and on time.
Jim turned to me and said, “There you go again, Mary Lou – give, give, give!”
On one hand it was hard not to think, why is it just me taking on more? On the other hand, deep down I knew doing so would pay off.
What happened? The project got done, ahead of schedule, with better-than-expected results.
What did my giving more do? Helped the team, yes. Helped the department, yes. Helped the company, yes.
But it also showed I was willing to do a little more than everyone else. I went the extra mile. Often. And I became known for that kind of work ethic. Three months later, I was promoted to Director level.
Later in life, I learned a lesson from a colleague that struck me in such a way, I am compelled to share it with you.
Alex was one of the top people on my team. We were working on a major acquisition, and I needed one of my top people to participate on one of the project teams. I picked Alex to take on that stretch assignment, not because she was bored, but in fact, just the opposite.
I knew she could handle more – she didn’t, though, at first. And I knew to help her develop and grow, she needed to get exposure to, and strut her stuff with, this global project team and sassy group of demanding leaders.
She said yes. She jumped in. At first, she struggled. But she worked through it. I supported and encouraged her, and like I knew she would, she elevated her skills and posturing in the company. And the project team benefited greatly from her participation and outstanding work.
A year later, she sent me a thank you card that among other things expressed how grateful she was. Her note said this:
“You helped me go from, ‘why me,’ to ‘why NOT me?” That’s a great attitude!
Alex could have said no to that assignment, but she didn’t. She said yes, gave more of herself, went the extra mile (as she had witnessed me do) and it paid her back in building self-confidence, contributing more to her work and the team, and getting her noticed. A few months later she took on another role in the company with more responsibility and received a sizable salary increase.
When you go the extra mile, do a bit more than the average person, and give more, a world of new possibilities opens. Why is this concept of giving more of yourself so important to the idea of prosperity? I share another Biblical reference for context.
“Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”
2 Corinthians 9:6
The seeds we sow matter. If you sow seeds of hate, anger, jealousy, greed, those will be returned to you in spades.
If you instead sow seeds of kindness, caring, love, support, and money, those will be returned to you in spades. In other words, give these things, get more of these things. It’s so simple, it’s profound.
Then, why doesn’t this happen more often? In many cases, we live in an increasingly selfish world. Many people think first of what benefits them and not of what they can do to benefit others. You’ve heard of the “me” generation? It’s not just one generation.
It’s time to practice a prosperity mindset and give more.
Alex could have said no to that assignment, but she didn’t. She said yes, gave more of herself and it paid her back in her career and in her life.
And the relationship is as strong today as it was then because we gave of each other for each other.
I could have said no and just did what was required of me, instead of doing more for the good of the team and the company, but I didn’t. I did more. And when I did, I received more.
Give more. Receive more.
One more quick story. Not long ago I was in line at the grocery store. The young woman in front of me had a toddler standing with her groceries in the cart and a baby sitting in the front child seat. She was struggling to pack her groceries, watch her kids, watch the cashier, make sure the bread and eggs didn’t get crushed as they sped down the conveyer. I was feeling this woman’s strength and struggle.
When the cashier told her what the total was, I handed the cashier my credit card and said, “I got this.” I turned the young woman and said, “This one’s on me. You have enough to deal with!”
She argued with me, and at first refused to let me pay for her groceries. I insisted. She looked at me, thanked me several times, and said, “Bless you.” I thanked her and said, “All I ask is that someday you pay it forward and help a stranger like I’m helping you.” She said she would. I believed her.
Look, I wasn’t vying for a top spot on the 6 o’clock news – it would have been buried at the end of the news program anyway, because good news doesn’t sell. I saw a woman giving everything she had to just make it out of the grocery store and take care of her kids. I never had that experience. I just wanted to help her. She deserved a little kindness.
I may never see her again, but the look of appreciation and gratitude on her face stays with me still today. I just know she spread kindness to at least one other person. For that I’m grateful.
Just imagine if everyone committed a random act of kindness every day.
I highly recommend getting the book, “Holy Moments,” by Matthew Kelly. You can find it here at www.holymomentsbook.com. The author talks about the power of planting seeds of kindness and the remarkable and powerful impact that can have on changing the world for the better.
The world is a mess today – we all see it, read about it, and feel it every day. War, famine, weather disasters, greed, violence, hate – the list goes on. A lot of people are just giving up. They don’t think there’s anything any one person can do to make things better. I completely disagree!
You’ve heard of “the butterfly effect.” The theory states that when a butterfly moves its wings, it can cause a cyclone in another part of the world. It symbolizes how small changes can have big consequences in complex systems like the weather, history, or human lives.
Giving works the same way.
Here’s a challenge for you. Do something kind for a stranger today. Post what you did on my FB Community. I’ll put your name in a raffle to win a free copy of the book, Holy Moments. Let’s see how many people we can engage in making the world a better place, one person, one good deed at a time.
Give just a little more of yourself and watch the ripple effect. You’ll not only feel better about yourself and feel proud about what you did, but you’ll stand out in the crowd, and you will have sowed good seeds of prosperity.
Be of service to others, and the Universe reciprocates in kind.
Who wouldn’t want that?
To your prosperity!
To learn more about how I can help you in your prosperity journey, join my Facebook community and connect with me LinkedIn (4) Mary Lou Panzano | LinkedIn.
