Due to the Coronavirus pandemia, we have found ourselves wanting to help in different ways. I, myself, have collected money to buy pillows for police patients who need them and have hosted 4 people in my house during the quarantaine because they had nowhere to go as immobilization got them when they were here. I know that a lot more is needed but then when I read some comments in FB, I sometimes wonder if some of the people who help do it for getting some recognition or for really wanting to help.Then, as it usually happens whenever I ruminate on some ideas for a while, I came across this article which threw some light into the issue. It is from The Daily Om.
"When we see a person in need, we may want to give them something as a way of helping them, but if we give without taking the time to see who they really are, honoring that most of all, our gift is nowhere near as powerful as it could be. We may want to give a homeless person a sandwich, for example, but if we give it without also taking a moment to look the person in the eye, making authentic contact, we rob them of the experience of being human.
Being in a position of need leaves a lot of people feeling vulnerable and full of self-doubt. The greatest gift we can give is to meet people in need without judgment and with the awareness that we are not superior to them simply because we are not currently in their position. If we take the long view, we can see that we all began life in need of a lot of care and attention, and many of us end life in the same way. Giving and receiving are companion energies that take turns throughout our lives, and we all get a chance to be on both sides of the exchange from time to time.
It's important to be aware of our own tendency to give from a desire to feel good about ourselves, rather than from an acknowledgement of our connection to all people. Letting go of our self-importance allows us to see that, regardless of appearances, we are all givers and receivers. When we are in the position of the giver, we honor those we are helping when we remember the many people who have helped us. Then we can look the person we are helping in the eye, aware that we are making contact with a human being who is our equal".
