There are so many stories about apples and apple trees, since Newton discovered the gravity under an apple tree. One such story left a gentle yet profound impression with me as I will share here:

Nature Gives Abundantly

For those who have read the Bible, it can sometimes be “unfair” and “frustrating” when we are told the Good Lord makes the sun shines on both the good and the bad, similarly the rain comes to both the good and bad. We always have this tendency to think, we are better, we deserve more and why should others deemed as “less deserving” than us get just as much if not more? But then, who are we to say who deserves more….

A few years ago, I read about how ripe apples will drop from the tree. If ripen apples are not harvested or eaten, it will starts to rot. It wasn’t a book about plants but a book on “metaphysics” – this point was made to illustrate that nature has a need to give.

Ponder on this: Nature has a need to give. To give us sunlight, gives us air, gives us water, gives us food… and all in abundance.

Take a look at the people around us. There are the Givers and the Takers. Some people made endless demands on others for their own benefits, continually taking and often without gratitude. On the other end are Givers, who continue give of themselves and their resources, out of their abundance, often without being asked and often done happily. Great majority of us are in between, giving a valid meaning to the phrase, “give and take”.

To go through life, it is essential to adopt a “give and take” attitude. If we are more “evolved” spiritually, surely nature has a good lesson here – to give more than we receive. It is also a universal virtue as taught in every major religions – it is more blessed to give than to receive.

If we feel discouraged, as if we have given more than we take from life, take heart: (i) we are in tune with nature’s law – to give more than we receive; (ii) we are more blessed because we could give…

By giving, it need not mean financial. It could be the giving of our time, our attention, our love, our talents..etc. To view giving from the absolute amount of money given is way too narrow.

Sometimes, our time is more wanted than our money. Do we want our spouse’s attention more than we want his or her money? (Some may say both…just for the sake or a good challenge. Lets say you can have all of your loved one’s money but none of his love, time or attention, this is recipe for disaster. Any claims of happiness is hollow and will last superficially until the day the money ran out.)

How about our children? One quote said, “To a child, L-O-V-E is spelled T-I-M-E, not G-I-F-T.” Too often busy parents compensate their lack of giving in time with presents, then lament later they are treated like bank/ ATM by their kids. The new mantra now is…

Give them lots of love and not enough money, not too much money and not enough love. Which would you choose?

Another observation:

It is possible to give without loving.

But impossible to love without giving.

Love is about giving. Not just of money, but of time, attention, encouragement..etc.