It's true. The world doesn't deserve you. Doesn't deserve all the wonder of what you have to offer. You know it. The world - if it roused itself to care - would probably even admit it.
Give it all, anyway.
Give your all. It takes more out of you to let it go to waste, then it ever does to give your all. Give your all, all day long - and the next day you'll wake up to find your all has grown.
For if you only give of that miniscule portion of yourself that you think the world deserves, or that others deserve, then day by day you will shrink and dwindle until one day you wake up to find...the world deserves more than you've got.
Give it all, anyway.
Give your all. It takes more out of you to let it go to waste, then it ever does to give your all. Give your all, all day long - and the next day you'll wake up to find your all has grown.
For if you only give of that miniscule portion of yourself that you think the world deserves, or that others deserve, then day by day you will shrink and dwindle until one day you wake up to find...the world deserves more than you've got.
Comments
So how, in the final paragraph, is the all dwindling, even with only a miniscule portion given out each day? Wouldn't the all be dwindling more if nothing were given? And why is it dwindling at all if one finds more growing in one's all patch when one gives his/her all?
Hey, others may have a different karmic metabolism! Sometimes I assume things are universal that aren't. There could be some dude out there whose best that's within him gets stronger and better every day he keeps it to himself, and that dude would be looking at this going, "Darling? Who you calling darling, punk?"
I'm not scared of that dude, though. My all will kick his all's ASS.
And wow, that's horrible that an innate part of you atrophies unless you're constantly giving it away. I don't believe it. I mean, I believe a part of you believes it, but I don't think it's accurate. I'm sure you'd come out a good person even if you were kept in solitary confinement for 10 years, unable to keep giving it all to everyone indiscriminately, whether or ot they deserve it.
But no, I was saying it didn't make sense to me because you were saying the person has so much to give, I read it as meaning their "all" need only be that miniscule portion. So I thought the giving in the final paragraph was enough giving to have the giving grow, etc., all that stuff you claim, and didn't understand why the dwindling would still be happening. It seemed you you were saying giving was the only way to go, but even if you give, you're going to become nothing. (Which, of course, is likely. But antithetical to your point!)
But I return to: why give your all to the entire world, especially when you know it doesn't deserve or even care for you? How come focusing on yourself and/or on a few who actually care "reduces" you and makes you karmically worthless? I would think as long as you're not outright harming others, you should at least break even, and if you give of yourself in a consistent but measured way, you should reap some karmic rewards.
A lot of people can't run around giving their all. A lot of people realize they're actually likely to pay a price for that, for giving equal amounts to those who truly deserve giving and those who are total jerks. A lot of people would end up irritable and exhausted if they gave their all to everyone all the time. A lot of people would have nothing to give to those who give most to them (their loved ones and friends) if they gave their all to absolutely everyone, and how is that fair or thoughtful? Even if they just gave them less, is that really right? I don't think those people who give selectively and in moderation are punished into emptiness. I think those people reap the most satisfying rewards, whether karmic positivity is heaped upon their universal measuring scale or not (I think it is).
I'm not talking about increasing the number of interactions, I'm talking about making the most of each. We've all got a lot to give, but it isn't infinite, and we have obligations both pleasant and onerous that we need to focus on - we can either make the most we can of it, or we can be grudging and half-assed. The more we choose to act half-assed, the more we become half-assed.
I agree it is horrible that an innate part of me atrophies when not used, but it is pretty natural. My muscles work the same way, and brain research strongly suggests that keeping your mind active and challenged is just as important to its long-term vigor as physical exercise is to the muscles.
And of course one might say that the message is now rendered stupid and obvious, but I really don't think so. I see people around me every day bearing grudges big and little against their work, against the closest people in their lives, cutting back and being mean and ungenerous because of how the other person - or the work environment - has treated them, or what it deserves. People ask me advice on stuff like this! I'm like - "dude - what the hell? What does it really cost you, to be better than that? Who is really being taken advantage of, when you decide to make yourself so much less than you are? Quit letting people push you around - sure! Stand firm in what you won't do, grow some boundaries already - that's fine. You're not everybody's designated servant, but dang it, in what you must be involved in, or in what you choose to be involved in, stand up and EXECUTE already."
I'm kind of shocked that anyone ever comes to me twice for advice. But some do, some do.