Why We Give

In the wee hours of the morning, by the light of my woodland tree, I came up with a short list of why we give to others. Not sure why this came to mind, but okay. I’ll write about it. I’m sure I’ve left out some major reasons. I’m just running with four reasons that popped into my head this morning.

My first thought was of giving out of obligation. An example of why we feel obligated would might be as in a monetary collection towards a gift for your employer. While you are not necessarily obligated, peer pressure often weighs a lot. Or, maybe you feel obligated to help a relative who is hard on their luck because of bad life choices. Just a couple of examples.

Giving because of dedication was my second thought. This would be as a father and mother are dedicated to each other, to their children and household. You might give because of dedication to your parents and/or siblings, and church family too.

Gratefulness is a big reason for giving. My first thought is in my gratitude to God for sending us Jesus, and for forgiving me of all the sin that has separated me from God over the years…which, sadly, continues because I am such a human.

But because of my thankfulness, I desire to give to others. And while that might not always be monetarily, I do try to find ways to serve others in one capacity or another. But where I am most comfortable in giving is through writing.

Romantic…ahhhh, romantic gestures of giving. Romantic giving should never be under the guise of obligation. When I worked for a florist, I felt sorry for many of the men who visited our store in preparation for Valentine’s Day. They felt obligated to spend a ton of money (when they didn’t have it) on their girl because she expected it. They didn’t want her to be mad. They didn’t want to be thrown into the doghouse again, as some men had confided in me. And they definitely didn’t want to give her a reason to talk smack about him to her friends on the 15th. Girls often do that, ya know.

Valentine’s Day, in my opinion, is not your ideal romantic holiday. Especially, when you have callers who send exact bouquets to their wife and to their mistress. Yeah, that’s pretty romantic, don’t ‘cha think? Romantic giving doesn’t require a holiday.

Romantic giving is giving from the heart. You simply do it without reservation because your heart says ‘this is a good thing’. And if you listen to your heart and give with love, probably more often than not, it will be received in love.

These are my random thoughts this morning. It feels great to be writing again. ♥️

Andi