“Our standard is giving more than what is expected.”
“It is better to give than to receive.” We start hearing this when we are young, and we think we understand it, but since we are kids, it does not make sense to us. I mean, when I was a kid, I loved receiving more than giving for sure.
When I got older, I eventually did understand and realized that it did feel better to give to others than receiving. I thought for years that it stopped there; that was why it was better to give than to receive, because of that ‘feeling,’ but I later started to realize there was more.
I believe in the laws of the universe, I talk about them often, and one rule I believe in is that when you give, the universe will pay you back. Not always in money but in some way, it will. Good health, good relationships, a good job, or some other way, but I know and believe in this, and I promise once you subscribe to this attitude towards giving, you to will realize the power of giving.
It’s not just the feeling you receive but the blessings you receive in other ways because you gave. One small component is essential, though; you must give without expecting anything in return. If you give because John Licari or Jack Fallon told you to and you start looking for proof that it doesn’t work, then you will not see this work the way I said.
If you truly give with a pure heart and really and truly expect nothing in return, I think you will start to notice that your whole life will change, and you might not even notice it for a while, but trust me, it changes for the better. Once this starts to happen, you become addicted to giving, and your standard becomes looking for ways to give even more whenever you can.
Please remember that giving does not need to be money. You can give your time or your attention. You can give your advice or even give a smile or support; any giving will do!
There is also another reason why this is so powerful in my experience, and that is because when you give, it starts a chain reaction of giving that inspires others to give as well. We have all seen this when there is a charity that we bring attention to as an example. People will see others giving and decide they want to give as well, which usually inspires many. That is an obvious one, but some are not so obvious, like this example that happened last weekend.
It was a Sunday morning, I had just returned from 2 days of filming a TLC video in Florida, and I was getting my day planned out. I had a workout to do, church to attend, and I wanted to visit my Dad since he had recently broken his hip, and I could not visit him or help care for him for a few days. I also wanted to do the Jack and John show somehow; it was going to be a busy day.
I had been gone for two days, and I felt like I needed to give some people that had worked hard to keep things going while I was gone some praise but also a break. I immediately sent a message to Craig Cole. He had been working hard lately and helping cover whatever needed to be done the last several weeks, along with many of his ongoing projects. I sent him a message and told him I wanted him to spend time with family, take a break and relax. I wanted him to know I had the live show at 2 pm covered.
I honestly 100% expected him to message me back and say, “Thank you, I appreciate it,” but that’s not what happened. A few minutes later, I received his reply; it said, “I can do it and give you a break; I have no plans and would like to see you take today off.”
I honestly did not expect that; I thought he would jump on the opportunity to have a day off, but instead, he wanted to give that to me. What happened next was what I mentioned earlier in this post, and that is that chain reaction I talked about.
I gave the option to take the day off to Craig. In turn, he gave me the day off by saying he had it covered and wanted me to have a family day. I was then able to give my full attention to others on that day. I did a workout and shared it, which gave my accountability partners some inspiration. I went to church and gave my attention and heart to my God, not to mention I gave my family a good example.
I then went to visit my Dad to help give him some care. I realized he had been in the hospital on his birthday last week so I decided to buy him a new television for his birthday, it was a day that started with giving so why not! I arrived, gave him the television and installed it for him. The installation inspired him to provide me with his thanks and, of course, his wisdom by telling stories. My mother was excited that I was giving her and my Dad some of my time, so she cooked diner and gave me a great meal. I also gave my sister a break, taking care of my Dad for two weeks.
My Dad was very happy with his new television and was grateful; this inspired my sister to buy him a new chair. While I was there, it was snowing. After I had finished my dinner, I went outside to shovel snow from the driveway but found the neighbor in the driveway already doing it. He wanted to give his effort and time since my Dad always gives him vegetables from his garden. My daughter spent the day with me, and it inspired her to provide me with a thank you and a hug. I went home and did training for TLC, which meant I gave TLC Life Changers my time and energy, then eventually it was time to sleep.
The giving was over for the day, but when I woke up, it started again! God gave me another day on this beautiful Earth with all these beautiful people, I was grateful.
This week’s note is about giving and how giving can change your life in such a positive way. This is not only because it makes you feel good but because it inspires an environment of giving around you. That you inspire giving, and some of that giving mysteriously shows up from another source, but the giving starts to show up everywhere!
I started that day trying to give a break to Craig, he gave it to me instead, and that started a chain reaction that, looking back, is quite remarkable, but for those of us, that know and believe its just the laws of God and the universe doing their thing and blessing people for giving.
Once Jack Fallon understood that giving was so important to being truly successful, he made it a point to give more. That’s why this core value is one of our seven and why we constantly ask ourselves, “What else can we do?” We are addicted to giving and can’t get enough!
At TLC, our standard is giving more than what is expected; what about you? Smile at someone today our maybe your time or possibly something nice but then look for ways to give them even more; I promise it will be worth it, and your life will change!
Thanks for reading, and thanks for GIVING me your time. Let the chain reaction begin your turn!
