Once we learn how to give, we receive far more in return

ILEARNED to give and everything changed. I learned to give and found that I needed far less. I learned to give and received back much more than I gave away.

I gave away my time, the most precious thing we possess. It is the last thing we desire to give away, yet it is the one thing that others need most. I gave it away and their worries were no more.

I gave a hand and saw lives transformed. For some, it meant their burdens were easier to carry.

‘Let me lend you a hand,’ we say, but a hand is not something that can be borrowed. It is freely given as a gift without hope of return.

To others, I literally gave my hand. She sought consolation and I held her hand. No words, just a gentle clasp and the clouds cleared. He sat in a pool of tears and, as my hand embraced his, the storm subsided.

I gave my hand as a symbol of peace. That’s all it takes to heal a lifetime of hurt – a hand reaching out to yours with hope.

And then, as you return the gesture, the past is transfigured in a tender touch.

I gave a simple smile and it was as though I had given gold. I smiled, his face thawed and the sadness drifted away. I smiled and took aggression by surprise.

I gave a hand and a smile and found that it cost me nothing. Both come without any price tag. They are free to give and free to take – no strings attached.

I gave my shoulder for them to cry on. I gave it to them to lean on. I gave it when they needed me to shoulder my share. I gave it and felt lighter even with the added load.

I gave, but sometimes it was hard work. Fatigue, worry, stress and strain don’t leave you with much to give. There were times when I couldn’t give.

But then, when you give up giving, you are left all alone with yourself. You indulge the thought that nobody gives you a hand, a shoulder or their time. You surrender to a deluge of despair.

It suddenly hits you: it is more blessed to give than to receive.

The paradox of life is that the more you take, the less happy you will be. To give is to flourish as you should.

I gave a kiss and the pain passed. Their bangs and bruises cause them to cry. You give a kiss and they are cured.

A kiss is a symbol of love, of friendship and of peace. You give it without thinking how laced it is with emotion.

In that one simple act, you express all there is to know about the human heart.

A kiss can never come with conditions. Either it is given freely or the whole world suffers. His kiss was worth 30 pieces of silver – blood money that was never spent.

I gave a kiss which led to love, to lifelong fidelity and, finally, to them. They love to be kissed, knowing, somehow, that all life starts that way. It starts with a kiss and ends in miracles.

We give our time, a helping hand, a strong shoulder, a loving kiss. We give these things, but what we are really giving is ourselves. How to give a self?

We have nothing more valuable to give than ourselves, and yet the self is something no money can buy. It is given whenever we respond to need, to pain, to that vulnerable request for help or love. It is given whenever healing demands forgiveness, or when a broken heart weeps for compassion and you hold out a gentle hand.

IT is given when, without thinking, we shoulder another’s cross – when we anoint their wounds with affection. It is given when we see suffering and don’t turn away.

It is given when we realise that, behind their masks, most people could do with a smile, a hand or some help.

I learned how to give and everything changed. I stopped thinking about myself and simply gave it away. And then I found that the more I gave the more I had to give.

I am each person who gives without a second thought – everyone who has seen the power of simple things to heal, salve and save.

I gave and, through their joyful tears, I received nothing less than everything.