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The Gift of Giving: To Give is to be Human

The Gift of Giving: To Give is to be Human

Spirit is so mixed with the visible world that giver, gift and beneficiary are one thing - Rumi

The Gift of Giving

To give is to be human

WE ARE social creatures and have been shaped by millions of years of living and working together.

Our species thrives when we cooperate with each other. The social value of giving has been recognised throughout human evolution; those positive feelings we experience when we share gifts.

Giving gifts is a complex and intricate part of how we humans interact with each other.

How well we understand that true giving is not just gifting someone mindlessly out of duty, courteousness or because we expect something back.

Indeed, we can give without loving but we cannot love without giving. The intention behind our giving is the most important thing.

When we give joyfully, affectionately and unconditionally from the heart, then the energy behind the giving increases many times over.

To gift another with something meaningful, helpful and transformative is such a fulfilling experience, to see the other’s pleasure is the gift itself.

The very act can demonstrate how well we actually know and care for that person because we have listened, watched and empathised with their life journey.

Our lives are fulfilling when we give something that thoughtfully reflects a shared interest or that demonstrates our knowledge of another’s passions; we generate immense inner joy from helping others to better their lives.

The compassionate gift is a real vehicle for connection when given in an experience of love, joy, peace, charity, caring and self-worth and in this way the process of heart chakra expansion begins.

Two people, who moments before lived in separate worlds of private concerns, suddenly meet each other over a simple act of sharing.

The world expands, a moment of goodness is created and something new comes into being where before there was nothing. 

Mindfully choose the perfect present

Giving takes us out of self-absorption to extend our reach to others and the joy of giving lasts longer than the joy of getting.

Just grabbing anything randomly as a gift will not do; but to mindfully choose the perfect present for someone special or to really express our heartfelt appreciation or gratitude in a gift we can generate warmth and well-being in others. We can lighten someone else’s day and maybe even turn it around or bring wellness-enhancing help to the ailing. 

Sometimes the kind and thoughtful gesture in the gift can access a wound that only compassion can heal and can transform the heaviest of hearts.

The emotionally or spiritually supportive gift is a gift indeed, as is the gift that nurtures somebody’s health, well being and creative spirit.

A rut-busting gift is refreshing

It is important that we love what we are giving, so much so, that we would like to have it for ourselves – this is true gifting. To simply pass on an item no matter how expensive, that means nothing to us or has not touched us in some positive way, creates a serious deficit in the human connection.

Everyone wants love and care, but, more than these, human beings want respect for who they are.

If we perceive a friend to be ‘stuck’ or in a rut, we can open up their world to try something different and new to restore their faith in life’s abundance and diversity.

How fun it can be to watch a loved one discover the sometimes much-needed virtues of a new taste, aroma, remedy or skincare.

How satisfying for the recipient to receive something that delivers a life-enriching experience and not just another thing to put on a shelf or away in a drawer.

The most stoical and down-to-earth person, who might usually choose for themself something functional and eminently useful, can become quite entrenched in their familiar habits.

To merely give such people something of the same pragmatic genre that keeps them in their comfort zone is perhaps doing them a disservice.

We could really expand their self-imposed boundaries by giving them something whimsical, sensual or beautiful for its own sake and watch them grow and expand their limitations. Equally so, a practical, useful and grounding gift can bring calm and balance to the overly imaginative or sensitive dreamer who habitually looks for the artistic or quirky object to feed their escapism into fantasy. 

It may not be obvious to such a person, but perhaps a nerve tonic herbal tea to enhance sleep, calendula cream for their skin rash or healing balm for a neglected wound might be exactly what they need.

Generosity allies itself with an inner feeling of abundance — the feeling that we have enough to share - Sharon Salzburg

The more we give, the more we receive

True giving is not an economic exchange, it is a generative act that does not subtract from what we have; it multiplies the effect we can have in the world and heals division.

Generosity lies at the heart of spiritual practice and can actually be practiced.

Eventually the spirit of gifting informs our actions and our hearts expand to new levels of letting go and happiness.

We give because this very life is a gift itself that desires to be completely absorbed in each moment to spread ‘perfume’ around everyone it meets.

Giving a gift helps us to establish and define our relationships and it can enhance the bonds with family and friends.

Giving to others strengthens our feelings for the person we’re giving the gift to.

Giving gifts is the language of love. The beauty of generosity is that it not only brings us happiness in the moment because we feel good when we give, but it is also the cause for happiness to arise in the future.

Happiness is not made by what we own. It is what we share - Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Give your gift with a genuine smile, because smiling spreads Prana, the cosmic current, to every body cell.

A happy person is less subject to dis-ease, for happiness actually attracts into the body a greater supply of the universal life energy.

In our willingness to give that which we seek, we will keep the abundance of the universe circulating in our life.


Presents with Presence

GIFT someone you love with a delightful experience that immerses them into the sensual world.

Tinderbox specialises in creating beautiful, themed gift boxes to bring delight and gladness to every type of personality. Practical, romantic or sporty characters; the yogi, the gardener, the spiritual seeker, the shaman, the healer. Lovers, aromatherapists, babies, dogs, bathers, perfume lovers, foodies and more . . .

These bright, beribboned and natural-looking boxes contain only pure plant products that complement each other and the human body.

Whether it’s to smell great, be uplifted or get well, there’s something here for everyone.

A certain thrill is assured for the recipient of your gift box when it is opened to reveal its aromatic surprises and blessings.

Go to Tinderbox Gift Boxes

View in printable .pdf format

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