This old adage couldn’t be more true. The more generous and selfless you become, the more you will receive in return. Whoever is in charge of this thing called life—God, the Universe, nature, or some other thing—appreciates those who give to others.
This doesn’t mean to give “selfishly”, meaning to give just so you can get something in return. Rather, you should give for the sake of making a difference in someone else's life.
While I've always believed in this idea, I started taking it more seriously when Bree and I moved to North Carolina a few months ago. We always buy way too much food at the grocery store and, as a result, always have tons of leftovers. We would typically put the extra food in a tupperware and set it in the fridge, thinking we would eat it over the next few days. We rarely ate the leftovers and we would just end up throwing away tons of food. Instead of letting it go to waste, we started giving it to people who live on the streets. Every time we would ask the person if they wanted some fresh, warm food, they would light up with joy. One of my favorite moments was on Thanksgiving night. Bree and I made way too much food as usual, so I took a tupperware full of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans to a man living on the streets. I can't even explain how genuinely happy he was.
After seeing the impact this small act of giving was making, I decided to start donating 5% of my income at the end of every month to a charity. There are tons of different ways of dividing up your income each month, but I prefer to do the following:
50% to spending
30% to investing
15% to saving
5% to charity
I figure if I can spend 95% of my money on myself and my family, then I can surely spare a mere 5% to charity. I pick a new charity to give to each month. I choose something that's either local or has meaning to me, usually something to do with children-in-need or single-mothers. Not only does this make me feel good, but I know that it’s making a huge impact on somebody's life.
What I have found through this consistent giving is that whenever I give, I get it back tenfold. I don’t know how or why, but that’s just the way it works.
I encourage you to donate every month—even if it's just 1% of your income. Even giving small things like leftover food, old clothes or knick-knacks to Goodwill or Salvation Army can help someone more than you know. No matter how much you give, just remember the more you give, the more you get.
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