Giving Back to the Community

Giving is an act of pure love and humanity all around it.

The community is the greatest tool in building what is and what is to be. We might under-estimate its power but be careful. Though many people want to redefine their standing on who they are and what they do, most don’t want to look bad in the community’s eyes. This has led people to extremes as they attempt to abandon who they are expected to be and embrace who they truly are. Although we were not born with instructions and guidelines on who to be, the community is a reference point. It might have its negatives but let’s settle on the positives today.

Sometimes this tool is exhausted, and though it never runs out of resources, it needs replenishing; we might never give it as much as it gives us, but it would be great if we could put something back. Not for ourselves, but for others, for that person whose life depends on others’ generosity. Whose faith, that tomorrow looks promisingly better, is in the community as that’s their mother or father; for that soul that needs a hand in their day to day business or maybe to have a simple but good life.

Seeing someone smile is the greatest gift you can get after being with them at their lowest, or maybe at the time they are disadvantaged. Maybe after being in such a position yourself, and an act of charity means you feel their fear and share their lack. Giving out makes you feel content and happy at the same time. It may not be much to you, but it is significant to the receiving end.

As much as receiving feels good, giving feels much better. I remember my primary school class teacher clearly stating that we do not give because we have but, we have because we give. That it is not in the ‘what’ we give but in the ‘why’ and how we do it. We give because somebody gave us, or maybe we worked to get. Benevolence to the less privileged goes a long way and opens us up to opportunities. So, every chance we get, we should try our best and stretch out a hand, expecting nothing but the privilege of making someone else happy.

One does not need a million or billion net worth to give handouts or participate in community projects that help the less privileged and the marginalized. It takes a good kind heart that maybe understands what lack is. Carrying luggage for an elderly person incurs no cost and may take the least of anyone’s time. It is the heart that gives not the mind because come to think of some challenging economic periods; one would rather keep their wealth.

Acts of charity have brought up some of the best men and women in the world. In turn, they have helped the community and continue to be a blessing to many more souls out there. Charity has raised inventors.

Maybe letting yourself see it through the eyes of those you are giving to and from their perspective brings you to a better position to understand where they come from. Why they needed you at that particular moment, I would call this the first step to opening your heart to the possibility of giving.

It is not always about the money; you can give your time. Whenever possible, you can offer to listen to that stressed teenager that might commit suicide. They might be to find their way into adulthood and have probably made mistakes along the way. They might feel that they will never get back on track. Give them a second of your time, and you will have put some positive energy back to the community, to the society that must have, in a way, contributed to your making. Put it out there and let it swim; it might be the same boat that will save you from drowning or maybe a member of your clan from the raging waters of the world.

So at any time, whenever you get the chance, offer yourself to something that doesn’t necessarily benefit you. You can donate pads to disadvantaged menstruators. Try to give back to the community that has been giving without receiving. Put something out, take away sadness from a soul, and help replace it with positivity.

Find something you care about and offer yourself in that particular area. We can all do more for the community than we know.