DISCOVER THE SECRET OF GIVING
Experts in science, economics, and ethics all agree—no one operates as an isolated entity in this world. Regardless of our needs, we satisfy them as we interact with other people. And the spiritual adage of the ages remains as relevant now as it was in the past: In order to receive, we must also give.
Haanel was vehement about the inclusion of active and eager giving at the heart of the manifestation process. Here’s how he states this:
We make money by making friends, and we enlarge our circle of friends by making money for them, by helping them, by being of service to them. The first law of success is service.
Often in the pursuit of selfish acquisitions and triumphs, people lose touch with the underlying reality that in order to receive, we must serve. Every job on this planet is one of service, from the president, executive, and general on down to the ditch digger, dishwasher, and janitor. We all get up in the morning and do something that benefits other people and receive income or other things in exchange for our service.
Haanel points out in the quote that friendship is the core positive ingredient in our financial endeavors. Superficially competition might seem to be the order of the day in business. But in reality, most of us spend most of our time at work engaged in cooperative relationships. We might compete with another company, but we cooperate inside our company for the common good and shared success. And ultimately our entire world economy is one large organism that survives and thrives through cooperation and friendship, not through negative attitudes and hostility.
Perhaps I can best summarize Haanel in this manner: harmony, friendship, love, and happiness are the key ingredients in anyone’s success. We make money (or any other article of exchange) by helping our friends make money, by serving them.
You can make a money magnet of yourself, but to do so you must first consider how you can make money for other people. Your greatest success will come as you are enabled to assist others. What benefits one must benefit all.
What truly makes you feel good? Unless your heart is seriously contracted, you’ll probably admit that you feel good in your heart when you’re helping someone. Greedy grabbing from other people just doesn’t feel as good as friendly giving, does it? Of course you need to receive. But if you consider the act of receiving, you’ll realize that someone else is giving what you need to you—that’s key!
And of course the logic under the surface observation of giving and receiving is that we’re continually giving and continually receiving, but very often, if we don’t give first, and give willingly and happily, the flow through which we receive gets stifled and cut off, and we experience shortage and failure.
A generous thought is filled with strength and vitality. A selfish thought contains the germs of dissolution; it will disintegrate and pass away. Our greatest success will come as we recognize that it is just as essential to give as to get.
With this quote we’re again back to the notion that giving isn’t just a physical outer act. Giving springs from generous thoughts, and generous thoughts, being imbued with love and harmony, give us strength and vitality. Thus if we focus on giving with a generous thought behind the act of giving, we create the positive inner attitude that is essential to manifesting what we ourselves want to receive.
So as you do your daily manifestation process, please include in your focus not just what you want to receive, but also what you have and want to give. If what you’re truly seeking deep down is a brighter, happier feeling inside your own heart, hold in mind that your vision will need to include not just the things and experiences you want, but also what you are going to give in exchange for what you receive.
You will get only what you will give; those who try to get without giving always find the Law of Compensation relentlessly bringing about an exact equilibrium.
I’ve noticed that all too often people swing from the extreme of grabbing all they can to trying to kill off their personal quest for what they need themselves and focusing entirely on trying to be giving. The truth is that there must be a harmonious balance between giving and receiving. They can’t really be separated, or the vitality of human exchange is lost.
Self-denial is not success. We cannot give unless we get; we cannot be helpful unless we are strong. If we wish to be of service to others we must have power—but to get it we must give it; we must be of service.
The basic laws of science clearly state that nothing is lost nor gained in the universe. Rather, there is a constant flow of particles and energy circulating, but not ultimately becoming less nor greater. For an economic system to work, money must flow through all hands. Money is powerful when in circulation, which means when it is being given and received over and over.
It’s the same in a successful relationship. Both parties in the relationship must regularly give their love and attention, and both parties must be open to regularly receive. The vitality of relationship depends directly upon the flow happening between two people.
So observe carefully over the next weeks and months, when you pause to move through the manifestation process, whether you are generating visions and intent and imaginations that are purely selfish, or if you’re building into your ideal vision the constant act of sharing, of helping and serving those around you. Take time to contemplate your current attitudes about giving and serving, and in the act of contemplation, while plugged into your higher self, you’ll begin to wake up to your full potential for generosity.
Again, let’s look at what Haanel says:
A generous thought is filled with strength and vitality. A selfish thought contains the germs of dissolution; it will disintegrate and pass away.
Rather than fixating upon just yourself in your vision, begin to expand your vision to include other people. To succeed with your plans, include others. Your plan requires participation with other people to succeed. So consciously begin to expand your vision bubble to include what you are going to give to other people in exchange for what you’re going to receive.
Generous thoughts can exist only in the mind of a person who feels that there is plenty for all. You must perceive yourself as someone who has enough so you can give some away—so that in the act of giving, you stimulate the inward flow of what you want.
At the heart of all this is the notion that the Law of Attraction functions within the higher power of love. When you are feeling selfish and greedy, there is no love in your heart at that moment. In this state of mind you are sabotaging your own success, because you will have no power to attract what you need. This might sound simplistic, but in reality it is a profound insight that Haanel is laying out for us to reflect and act upon.
We will get exactly what we give, but we shall have to give it first. It will then return to us manyfold.
Many times Haanel states that we must first give in order to receive. This is important. So many people plunge into doing a manifestation method fixated only on their need to get something. Their passion seems to focus only on the need to change their lives in directions they think will satisfy them. But they directly violate core principles of manifestation right at the start, and so fail in their efforts.
Often when people start to realize they must give in order to receive, they give without generosity or love, and of course they don’t end up getting what they want. Furthermore, people tend to think that all they have to give are things, but the reality is that what they really have to give are positive, loving thoughts that in turn generate positive feelings in the other person.
There are a great many gifts we can give to other people, just by radiating our positive presence outward in their direction. As we saw in the last chapter, our thoughts do radiate outward and impact other people’s inner lives, as well as the physical world.
With this scientific proof in mind regarding what you have to “give to the world,” you can begin to circulate positive thoughts and feelings as a primary “thing you give” in exchange for what you receive. As usual, Haanel says it best:
Giving is a mental process, because thoughts are causes and conditions are effects. Therefore in giving thoughts of courage, inspiration, health, or help of any kind you are setting positive causes in motion which will in turn bring about their positive effect.
Each moment of your day, as thoughts run through your mind, you’re impacting the world. If you want to manifest your vision, you must begin to be more aware of all those thoughts that you’re broadcasting, otherwise you’re directly thwarting your success.
Please take time over the next weeks to reflect upon this primal aspect of success in life. Every moment, as thoughts move through your mind, you are determining your fate. And you do have the power to quiet negative thoughts when you get caught up in them.
Remember earlier chapters in which we talked about quieting the mind. All you need to do when you’re caught up in negative thoughts is to turn your attention to the air flowing in and out of your nose, and expand your awareness to include the movements in your chest and belly as you breathe, and all thoughts will temporarily stop.
Once you’ve quieted your thoughts, it’s time to go ahead and tune into your inner voice, tap your higher passion and vision, and then bring that vision in through your solar plexus and up into your mind. Lo and behold, you’ll find yourself with brighter thoughts springing to mind, thoughts that carry positive feelings and intent that will positively impact those around you.
The quality of the thought which you entertain determines the quality of the thought which you radiate, which consequently will determine the nature of the experience which will result.
It’s not just the thought itself; it’s the quality of that thought that matters. And by quality Haanel means the emotional charge accompanying the thought. Almost all thoughts pack an emotional charge, which stimulates glandular and muscular experiences throughout your body. And it’s that whole-body charge that radiates out and impacts the world.
So giving implies monitoring the quality of your thoughts and taking responsibility for quieting negative, fear-based thoughts and nurturing positive, love-focused thoughts. Your ego can’t force or manipulate the feeling of generosity into your thoughts. But if you regularly pause and tap into your Source, you access infinite loving intelligence and power. That’s what this is all about: receiving love from God and giving it to the world.