It may sound a little backward at first glance, but it is true. To
receive abundantly, you must give abundantly. When we are
locked into the mind-set of just taking care of ourselves and our
needs, there is no true satisfaction. You don’t get the feeling that
you are changing anything or anyone in the world; it is just about
you, which is very superficial. Instead of trying to change lives,
focus on changing one life—your own. You must change
yourself in order to change anyone else. To change a family, you
only need to change one person. The same is true of a
community, a nation, or even the world.
Give, and give abundantly. I’m not just talking about money; I’m
talking about living in opulence. See yourself as a distribution
point for blessings and love. Give at every opportunity, and not
just money. Money is but a single source of opulence and
abundance. Smile, hold doors open, give hugs, compliment
people, or just let them know you noticed them today. The main
point here is to think and feel opulent in everything you do.
It is less important how much you give, than the spirit in which
you give it. If you give only to receive, you are not giving, just
trading. Never give while expecting to receive from the same
avenue to which you are giving. Give for the sake and the feeling
of giving. Expect a return, but remember that just as your
avenues of giving are infinite, so too are your avenues of
receiving.
You have been placed here not to take joy from the world, but to
give joy to the world.
Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you
as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens
to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.
—John Homer Miller