Are you a giver or a taker?

Have we become a society of people that take take take and give nothing?  Look at the environment...we have destroyed the world around us, and given nothing back.  And now we can't even begin to get mobilized behind an effort to prevent global warming.  Think about the hunger and homelessness that exists across the world and even in our country. 

I am thinking about this in terms of friendships and relationships.  Do you ever just feel that you give a lot and get nothing in return, except for the label, friend or mate?  When did we become a society that is totally focused on self...when did it become --- "we hold these truths to be SELF-INTERESTED...?" 

As a young girl, I learned to share...to give unselfishly...to love with reckless abandon.  Were my parents wrong in teaching me these, what I consider very basic rules to life?  No, I don't think so.  I just think that somewhere in this world where we have become nothing but reckless consumers...the basic rules of giving and sharing have been lost in the everyday chaos.  Now, I am not naive in thinking that every interaction or relationship will be 50 - 50 give and take, because truth be told, some people are just better at giving and others are better at taking.  However, I don't think a relationship has much value if only one person shares.  

When is the last time you just called a friend and wanted to hear how his/her life was going?  And no matter the issue, you just wanted to GIVE of yourself by being there.  When is the last time you did something really special for your boyfriend/girlfriend, husband/wife...something that would make their life easier, just because you wanted to see them smile?  When is the last time you set out to make someone happy without expecting anything in return?

People today have lost sight of important things.  We are all consumed with ambition and social climbing and being wealthy, without recognizing that a rich life is one that is surrounded with people that we love and that love us.  We all often take people for granted, thinking that they will always be around.  What happens when the person you have been feeding off of decides that they have nothing left to give?  If you are a societal parasite, its time you released your hold and give back some of all that you have taken.  And for those of us that give give give until we are bone dry, it's time to take back some of yourself. 

Ask yourself today, are you a giver or a taker?....Evaluate your friendships and relationships and decide what you can do better...how you can love more...and how you can give more of yourself so the relationship won't be so one-sided!  To give is to receive and to love is to be loved!

....and that's straight out of the she-spot...

D