While growing up, one phrase that was always stuck to my mind is the phrase Living is giving. Almost every spiritual leader, success guru and people in positions of influence agrees that giving is an essential part of life. But why is that? Many people have heard of the phrase living is giving, but I wonder how many of them actually have a complete understanding of the significance of giving in the lives of human beings.

The general understanding of the concept of giving is a very shallow and basic one. People who give and contribute on a regular basis will understand what it truly means to give. For those who dont, their perspective on giving will be a very shallow and generalized one.

The way the world and society generally views giving causes misunderstandings on many levels. It is the general belief that giving only means to try to be being helpful, sympathize with others and being the good guy.

People view giving as a way to ‘get into’ heaven, to collect good karma, to be rewarded something in return in the future etc. Not to say that any of this isnt true at all, but these are just very small parts of giving.

Not only is it a very narrow perspective of giving, it also encourages the false assumption that by giving, the giver actually loses something without getting anything in return. The focus is solely on the transfer of ownership of the item, or the loss of the time and/or effort of the giver.

That is not true at all. All of us get something back in return immediately upon giving. The act of giving genuinely makes human beings feel naturally happy, proud of themselves and significant. It gives a feel good boost that you cannot get anywhere else. It has positive effects and healing properties for every part of your being.

In addition, giving also puts you in a frame of mind that you are already abundant. How does it work? Think about it, when can a person give? Only when he or she has got something to give. If you have nothing to give, you cant give. Thats the only logic. When you give, it can only mean that you already have something.

Every time you indulge in the act of giving, what you are doing unconsciously is telling yourself that you already ‘have’ it. If you give time it means you have time, if you give money it means you have money. Because there is evidence of this (the fact that you gave it), your brain will infer that you are indeed abundant. Gradually you will develop the belief that your life is filled with abundance. Through that belief you will naturally attract more and more abundance into your life.