The Art of Pursuit
To receive, first you must give -- To give, first you must receive
... Which one is it?
Sorry, trick question. You must have something before you can give something, which means you must first receive to be able to give.
At the same time, to expect to receive anything, first you must give. Whether that be your time, effort, or what-have-you.
There is an art to giving and receiving. A cycle if you will. A dichotomy in which you may have, in passing, something which you do not fully understand until you fully give it away, and in that instance receive a fuller knowledge and grasp of it.
The perfect example of this; teaching. Teaching teaches the teacher more the first time it is taught than it teaches the students learning the lesson. This is a cardinal truth; that a teacher is an eternal student - forever learning. And it is also true that a teacher can learn more from the students than any book can describe.
Why is this so?
Because to know something requires a certain amount of knowledge, but to be able to take that knowledge and cohesively and comprehensibly explain that same knowledge to someone else takes an even higher level of knowledge. For you are taking a concept understood within the framework and synaptic construct of your own mind and attempting to implant it into a mind that has a completely different and alien construct. To teach you must know the material inside and out to be able to decipher and portray the same idea in a multi-facetious way so as everyone, no matter who they are, can understand it.
In other words, a teacher must teach from a position of understanding hitherto unknown. A teacher knows the concept, but in the process of explaining it to someone else, gains a more thorough, deep understanding of it that was not possible before.
Another example of this dichotomy would be love. To truly love someone, an example must be shown to you. If you really want to love someone, you look to the example of others who have loved you and how they have loved you and that tends to be the process in which you show your love. At the same time, no one feels loved as strongly as the one who loves greatly themselves. And in the process of loving someone else a feeling of being loved is felt that was hitherto unknown which in turn increases your own capacity to love others more.
This works financially as well. Giving, even out of your need, brings about a financial peace that was hitherto unknown.
So where is the connection? ... To receive happiness, learn how to give happiness. Give of yourself, and you will understand to an extent that was hitherto unknown, and you will receive more and thus will be able to give more.
As the verse goes - “He who is faithful with little shall be faithful with much. He who is unfaithful with little shall be unfaithful with much.”
Begin giving of yourself, and you shall receive more, allowing you to give more. But only by giving happiness away to others can you truly be happy yourself. No man is an island.
Jared Williams
... Which one is it?
Sorry, trick question. You must have something before you can give something, which means you must first receive to be able to give.
At the same time, to expect to receive anything, first you must give. Whether that be your time, effort, or what-have-you.
There is an art to giving and receiving. A cycle if you will. A dichotomy in which you may have, in passing, something which you do not fully understand until you fully give it away, and in that instance receive a fuller knowledge and grasp of it.
The perfect example of this; teaching. Teaching teaches the teacher more the first time it is taught than it teaches the students learning the lesson. This is a cardinal truth; that a teacher is an eternal student - forever learning. And it is also true that a teacher can learn more from the students than any book can describe.
Why is this so?
Because to know something requires a certain amount of knowledge, but to be able to take that knowledge and cohesively and comprehensibly explain that same knowledge to someone else takes an even higher level of knowledge. For you are taking a concept understood within the framework and synaptic construct of your own mind and attempting to implant it into a mind that has a completely different and alien construct. To teach you must know the material inside and out to be able to decipher and portray the same idea in a multi-facetious way so as everyone, no matter who they are, can understand it.
In other words, a teacher must teach from a position of understanding hitherto unknown. A teacher knows the concept, but in the process of explaining it to someone else, gains a more thorough, deep understanding of it that was not possible before.
Another example of this dichotomy would be love. To truly love someone, an example must be shown to you. If you really want to love someone, you look to the example of others who have loved you and how they have loved you and that tends to be the process in which you show your love. At the same time, no one feels loved as strongly as the one who loves greatly themselves. And in the process of loving someone else a feeling of being loved is felt that was hitherto unknown which in turn increases your own capacity to love others more.
This works financially as well. Giving, even out of your need, brings about a financial peace that was hitherto unknown.
So where is the connection? ... To receive happiness, learn how to give happiness. Give of yourself, and you will understand to an extent that was hitherto unknown, and you will receive more and thus will be able to give more.
As the verse goes - “He who is faithful with little shall be faithful with much. He who is unfaithful with little shall be unfaithful with much.”
Begin giving of yourself, and you shall receive more, allowing you to give more. But only by giving happiness away to others can you truly be happy yourself. No man is an island.
Jared Williams
