Giving is: Clearing Out the Old to Make Way for the New
Giving is: Clearing Out the Old to Make Way for the New

Giving is: Clearing Out the Old to Make Way for the New

Hoarding is to accumulate for preservation or future use.  But what about now? To be growing, and thus moving and evolving, we must get rid of the old things that are not being used to their fullest potential in the here and now.  This allows room for new things in one’s life that have opportunity to reach potentiality.  Imagine a person hoarding animals. The animals may not receive the care, attention and energy each needs to grow and evolve. Give some of the animals away, and they have the possibility of potentiality while the space where they once lived also has a new possibility to thrive.

This concept not only applies to our physical surroundings but also to our own essence or energy.  We must get rid of old energies that we have outgrown.  They take up spiritual space and simply don’t allow for new, fresher, evolutionary energy to take root.

An example of this could be money concerns. Your thought process is constantly in worry mode about how the next bill will be paid a month from now or how you will afford this or that for a child. While those are VERY valid concerns in our material world, you must learn to focus on the energy of the here and now.  I know it’s a Tolleian concept on some (many) levels. If you remove the worry by making an active choice to do something now, you CAN make room for new, positive energy to enter. One way to do this would be to volunteer. Take some of that extra precious time that you have, and help others. Go to your local food bank and box food with friends on a Saturday.  You will immediately feel the uplifting feeling of the power of giving while also making room in your world for a more positive and productive energy than worry and chronic concern.

Clearing your energy of old habits and thoughts is life-changing.  Something as simple as giving of your time or talent can make room for new things to come into your own life. Giving something away frees up space for something new.

I often recycle the items to Goodwill that have outlived their use and potential in my home.   I then scour the store for things that will bring fresh energy to me and my home. While things (and energy) can outlive their use to one person, they can still bring a new sense of being to another. I love recycling my things and knowing something I once enjoyed and loved (and maybe eventually ignored and packed away) can now bring possibility to another.

The concept of giving is not a belief held by a single religion. All religions and belief systems have some form of giving as the root for a stronger connection with God. There is a great quote that is attributed to the Buddha (563BC – 483BC):

“If you knew what I know about the power of giving, you would not let a single meal pass without sharing it in some way.”

The modern Christian Bible also has numerous references to charity. Not least of which is Paul’s writing:

2 Corinthians 8:7
But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you[a]—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

The Hebrew term  tzedakah  means righteousness.  It is also translated as both justice, charity and ethical behavior.  The Jewish philosopher, Rabbi and physician, Maimonides (1135-1204CE) wrote at length about the need to practice tzedakah through the 8 Degrees of Charity:

The greatest level, above which there is no other, is to strengthen the name of another Jew by giving him a present or loan, or making a partnership with him, or finding him a job in order to strengthen his hand until he needs no longer beg from people. For it is said, “You shall strengthen the stranger and the dweller in your midst and live with him” (Leviticus XXV:35), that is to say, strengthen him until he needs no longer fall [upon the mercy of the community] or be in need.

The Koran (Q’uran) is also full of words of wisdom about Sadaqah (charity).  In our volatile economic times, I especially like this quotation from Verse 2:280:

وَإِن كَانَ ذُو عُسْرَةٍ فَنَظِرَةٌ إِلَى مَيْسَرَةٍ وَأَن تَصَدَّقُواْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ

“If the debtor is in a difficulty, grant him time Till it is easy for him to repay. But if ye remit it by way of charity, that is best for you if ye only knew.” (Yusuf Ali translation)

I think one of the most important things to giving, and clearing a space or energy, is that it must be done out of love with the want of giving, and not what for what one may receive in return. You must be ok with the fact that if you give something away, the space could simply remain empty for some time until the right energy enters the equation.

The Bhagavad Gita sums it up nicely for me:

“A gift is pure when it is given from the heart to the right person at the right time and at the right place, and when we expect nothing in return.”

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