Two men sit in the local diner sipping coffee.

“Happy” is going on and on about his architect son and his daughter who is a stay-at-home mom.  He is reminiscing about how he worked so hard to put his son through college and about how he just fixed his daughter’s garage door opener.  His life seems so full and meaningful.   He talks about how blessed he is to have grandkids that he watches every other Saturday.  He used to watch them with his wife, but she passed away.  He misses her but is so blessed to have his grandchildren .

“Grumpy’s” demeanor is dark and he snaps at the waitress, grumbling at the cost of coffee.  He  complains about his son who was so expensive to raise.  In fact both of his kids are such a drain on his finances.  He has just spent a whole day doing repairs at his daughter’s house. He gripes about how this Saturday will be a complete waste because he will be stuck at his daughter’s house overseeing a mess of kids while she and her husband go out and have a good time.  It was so much easier when his wife was alive, but now it’s just him, saddled with a bunch of high energy kids who drive him crazy.

The two above men are really one man with two possible responses to life. In the first case he is a giver.  In the second case he is a loser.  The only difference is how he chooses to hold things – selfishly or selflessly.  ” Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35b KJV) What if we measured the quality our lives by how much we have given rather than how much we have kept?  When we are old, if we have little because we have given much, we will probably still be happy.  But, if we have much because we have given little, we will probably be miserable and feel like we have been “used.”

Truth be told, in life everyone will either give or lose.  There is no way to live without expending energy or sharing resources with others.  If, every time we do something that benefits someone else, we view it as something that costs us, we will feel like life or people are taking from us.  If, instead, we view everything we do for or give to others as investing in others, we will feel like we are helping someone.  If we give resentfully, we will feel miserable and used. If we give willingly, we can feel happy and generous.

It could be that how you feel about yourself and your world could be transformed simply by recognizing that life costs everyone.  Everyone who does a kind deed or says a kind word loses something, but if they choose to treat it as giving, it suddenly has a completely different feel.

Being a happy giver requires an intentional perspective.  Developing that perspective might look something like this:  The next time you…

• leave a tip, think about how you blessed a struggling waitress
• hold the door for someone, think about how you brightened someone’s day
• babysit your relatives, you are providing a safe place for kids to flourish
• pay a tuition bill, you are investing in the lives of your children
• go to work, you are making a better life for your family

Life demands that we all give or lose.  Choose to be the happy and blessed – think like a giver.  The world will seem like a better place and everyone around you will benefit.