A MESSAGE FROM THE MANAGER OF THE SHIPPING & RECEIVING DEPT.
Even in business it’s called SHIPPING & RECEIVING… not SHIPPING &TAKING. And, although the ‘shipping’, or what I refer to as Generous Giving, may be effortless, fun and easy for you – Generous Receiving may not come quite as naturally. It’s doubtful that any of us grew up without hearing, “It’s better to give than to receive.” So, thank you world, I heard it, I believed it and I lived it… I gave easily (still do) and I took. I had to learn how to receive. Now, as self-appointed head of the shipping and receiving department, I invite you to share what I’ve discovered about GENEROUS RECEIVING.
In the past, the generous ones were the good guys (I wanted that moniker), and the ‘takers’ (said with a frown of distain) were, by majority decision, the ones whose mothers never taught them good manners. “She’s such a taker” was, indeed, a label that no one wanted to wear. Takers were greedy, self-centered and maybe even needy. It was never really fun to give them anything – not gifts, time, compliments or love, because they seemed to feel that it was their ‘due’; that the world owed it to them and I was just the delivery girl. If I gave them a little they were quick to expect and frequently ask for even more…
My view of the value of takers hasn’t changed much over the years. And, don’t kid yourself; those self-serving folks still live among us! You can recognize them by their inability to receive anything without acting as if it were their birthright. They literally TAKE instead of RECEIVE!
Get that? It’s a great distinction. To “RECEIVE” implies that something is being presented, extended or offered; to “TAKE” means to remove, subtract or (here’s my favorite dictionary definition) “to dispossess someone of something”! Ouch!
And then, hallelujah, there are those who actually get it… the generous receivers of our planet.
They understand (completely and on every level) that the ‘true gift’ is graciously and generously receiving that which you are given. It’s cyclical; the gift of giving begets the gift of receiving which begets the gift of giving (sincere appreciation and gratitude) which begets… you be-getting it, don’t you?
When we see the ‘gift behind the gift’; the love, the thoughtfulness, the sacrifice and the generosity, and are moved into ACTION, we are generously receiving. In recognizing those things we are moved to GRATITUDE and are GRATEFUL – not just for the actual gift itself, but for the giving of it and the giver. It’s that awesome awareness that compels the Generous Receiver to say “thank-you”, and do it in a way that has the giver be fully and perfectly acknowledged. That my friends, is the true gift, RECEIVING what’s been SHIPPED and handling the ACCOUNTS PAYABLE!