...the truth about you? Are we only giving to get? What do you think?


Hi ALP Friends,

Is it just me or do you notice that when you read about others and what they have to say, it greatly contributes to your own overall attitudes, feelings and actions?

When I read positive uplifting information it helps me to refocus my thoughts and remember what my goals and inner desires are.

Thoughts are powerful and the information that we feed our minds help to make us more sensitive to our inner beliefs and ideology, and no doubt help to form the infrastructure for our thought processes.

Positive and negative circumstances and input help to mold our view of the world and the people around us, as well as our beliefs about what we can and can't accomplish in life. But circumstances alone should not control our thought processes that lead to the actions we take.

Here's where we can learn much from those who have gone before us and have overcome the worst of circumstances and human cruelty. Don't you love it when you read or hear about someone who has overcome great odds to accomplish amazing things in their life? How were they able to do it, inspite of their horendous odds? Interesting to ponder, don't you think?

It's been said that if you think you can, you are right....and if you think you can't you are also right!

Finding ourselves amidst the many ideas, thoughts, actions and influences that surround us every day is sometimes overwhelming and downright difficult to cope with at times.

Every one of us has the same amount of time every day though our circumstances may vary. Some of us may take a lot longer to do a task or a job, due to mental, emotional or physical challenges. Some of us may be brilliant in our thought processes but may not know how to relate to our fellow man on a level that is desirable or easy to understand. Whatever our challenges are, we all have them. All of us have issues, challenges or beliefs that hold us back.

What if we could all discover how to get past our challenges? Even though our circumstances sometimes don't change quickly...do you believe you can get beyond your challenges and accomlish what you were meant to accomplish in life?

One of the things that I love to do when I make myself take the time, is to read about people who have made a positive impact in our world and who challenge others to be true to themselves, and at the same time discover how they can encourage and help their fellow man.

I know we've all heard the universal truth that when we give to others we are clearing the way to receive, and so it is.

When we give, we do receive back, though not necessarily in the form that we are expecting. For me, giving has an even more significant purpose. In my view, giving goes far beyond getting. When I give to another and they don't have the capacity to even think about giving back to me...why do I do it, or why do you do this?

When I ask the question, I recognize that the great feeling of joy this gives me blesses me tremendously. So maybe I do give to get a feeling of blessing and joy. Even if there is no other gain in the giving. In this way maybe we are all only giving to get. But then...are there any truly altruistic acts?

What do you think?

Since the New Year is almost here...my new forum thread is going to start off the year with the question I have just asked. Please share your thoughts with me and our Adland friends. This will be a place for daily or weekly quotes.

Feel free to respond with your own thoughts, quotes of famous people or infamous people.



Yes, do share your quotes and quips, whether yours or someone elses. No, don't post your ads or they will be deleted.




"I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have".

- Abraham Lincoln

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blessings to you and family! I consider it a privilege to know you and I thank you for sharing yourself with me.

Cheryl

Hi Cheryl,

I went on a short trip this weekend, a bad weekend for flying...and on my return trip there was this little old lady all by herself standing in the airport, asking where to go, and it turned out we were on the same flight. So I took her to the right place, down the escalator to the correct gate, and our flight was late late late. I'm very glad I found her because I wouldn't have wanted to spend 3 and a half hours by myself with my thoughts yesterday while waiting for a plane that kept getting later and later. We had coffee and brownies and she had a French accent, and kept asking me what the loudspeaker was saying...every 2 minutes! I said "I don't know either, but it has nothing to do with us yet!" We had a good time, I'm glad I had that extra Grandma yesterday and I'm sure she's glad I found her and we were together the entire afternoon taking the same flight.

----Here's a good quote I found that sounds like something I'd say----

"I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing."
- Agatha Christie

---------------------------

"I didn't laugh at YOU when you tripped, I just laughed at the tripping itself." - Kathleen VanBeekom

---------------------------

----Okay, here's another "real" quote from a "famous" person:----

"The art of living is more like that of wrestling than of dancing; the main thing is to stand firm and be ready for an unseen attack."
- Marcus Aurelius Antonius

-----------------------

"Think about all the famous people you want to think about...the grass knows when you're lying on it, sometimes you're thinking of the sky, because you can never lie on the sky, all you can do is think about it." - Kathleen VanBeekom

--------------------------

----Now I think I'm pitching a tent in this forum!----

"When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained."
- Mark Twain

"I didn't laugh at YOU when you tripped, I just laughed at the tripping itself." - Kathleen VanBeekom

Loved it! So funny and so you! One of the things I just love about you is that you are true to yourself. Thanks for being who you are.

-----------------------

"Think about all the famous people you want to think about...the grass knows when you're lying on it, sometimes you're thinking of the sky, because you can never lie on the sky, all you can do is think about it." - Kathleen VanBeekom

I never looked at not being able to lie on the sky....or being aware that the grass knows when you are lying on it. Food for thought! What a perspective.

--------------------------

Now to the question....do you think there can be acts of altruism without having any sense of gain? Why did you help the little elderly lady at the airport?

I think you did a wonderful thing by helping her. Did it make you feel good? What were your feelings aside from having someone to spend the time with. Do you think we can do things without the slightest motivation to receive back something from doing the act of kindness? Really...what are your thoughts on this.

What you did was really nice, & let's face it...she is who we will become one day. We will all be elderly and will need someone to help us out. Even now, we all need help at times. This is hard to accept for some people and harder yet to ask for help. Hmmm..

Thanks for the story and for the quotes. You can camp out in my forum anytime!

Take care,

Cheryl

Hi Cheryl,

The lady was just standing there looking lost in a big airport, in an empty area, waiting for a direction. I asked her if she was by herself and I was surprised that she was because she was 81 and walked with a limp. Then also surprised we were on the same flight, I knew then we'd be glued together, that was fine with me. I don't mind helping people, because I usually ask people directly if I need to use a cell phone and offer them a dollar if I can make a call...they always say no about the dollar and let me use their phone (lost mine last year and never replaced it!) and I don't hesitate asking for directions from strangers, I don't wait around, so I wouldn't want anyone else waiting for help or wondering who to ask.

I've had some funny situations at the grocery store, conversations about Chinese baby corn, a woman wanted to know if those were eaten like corn-on-the-cob...LOL NO! Then one time a couple who just moved here didn't understand the leaf-bag rules of Grand Rapids, we must buy special bags to throw away our leaves, but those are made of brown paper so I told them not to set the bags out if it was raining because the garbagemen pick them up and the bottom falls out and then all the leaves fall back to our front curb and they won't lean down to scoop up anything they dropped, even if the entire bag fell apart. Another conversation about ice cream, a woman and I were speculating on if a thickly frost-covered box was old or new, safe to eat or not, I'd say not, frosty ice cream isn't good anymore. I should just work there and get paid to yack about food and and household stuff.

Hi Cheryl,

That was a wonderful reading! It goes to show that some time we all need a little bit of uplifting, and a kick up the backside.

Helping others have always given me great joy especially when i see the smile on their face afterwords.

Yesterday, I met through ALP a new friend, (who ironiclly just lived down the road from me). He sent me an email asking for my help, sinse he knows very little about the internet and what he can acheived from it. I rang him and we had a long chat which was fantastic. I gave some very useful information and also some links where he can get great resources to help him succeed online.

I rang him again this morning and found out that one of his reasons for using the net to earn an income, is because he's been diagnosed with cancer and he has just came out of Hospital, this has made me more determined to help him succeed even more.

I have now planned to go round and sit with him by his computer and guide him through with the best of my ability.

I pray that with God Blessing i will be able to guide him through.

I have now stop thinking about myself and needs, and now concentrating on his Needs, and to help him succeed the best i possible can.

By the way, his name is Michael Summers and he is one of my friend on ALP.

Here is my quote of the day: "You never know when one kind act, or one word of encouragement, can change a life forever."

~Zig Ziglar

Ken