.....giving or receiving?

Yogis,
Tis the season of giving…….or so it has been named. Gifts to be bought and wrapped, items to be made with care, and food to be cooked. But wait a minute.  What about receiving? For every gift given, isn’t there someone or something on the other end? What is a gift without a recipient……?

Most of us know how to gift. With giving we are in control. For some it comes as second nature, always knowing the perfect item. Others find it a bit more challenging but can rustle something up. Everyone is taught how to gift and we do it pretty well as demonstrated by the sales numbers at local stores and number of cars on the road this time of year. Receiving, however, is another story.

Giving and receiving are energies. The same current moving in opposite directions, like the flow of the tides. The energy of giving is active. Like the sun, it is a pouring out to another. Receiving is the other side of the coin. The same energy but receptive. Allowing. This side can feel vulnerable. We don’t get quite as much training on this aspect and it can show.

Let’s take a simple example with words instead of objects. Someone walks up to me and says. ‘I love your sweater’. My response – ‘Oh this old thing. I got it at the outlets on sale’. Or my other go to – ‘And I love your earrings!’ Their compliment had been a gift. My answers built a sudden dam in the flow. The energy stopped in its tracks. Do I not feel worthy of the compliment?

If on the other hand I had looked them in the eye and said ‘Thank you!’, by opening to receive their gift I have sent a gift back. Receiving is a gift we give the giver. Not always easy. I find that women in particular seem to struggle here as we are more accustomed to being the ones on the giving/mothering/in charge end. It can feel uncomfortable to receive. As someone described it recently, when a compliment is sent your way, wear it!

Is it better to give or receive?

Most people answer to give. But one cannot exist without the other. Learning to receive is a gift in and of itself. Water is our best teacher here. No matter what you throw in, she opens her arms wide and embraces it. Fully. 

When you are handed a gift this week, regardless of what it is or what it looks like, be like the water and draw it in and love it. The gift you will be sending back will be tenfold.

Running by the light of the moon this week I turned a corner where her rays suddenly shown directly down on me. A gift! I stopped and looked up to say thank you as I soaked them in. By accepting them fully a connection was created. A gift had been sent back and we were now in an intimate dance of gratitude.  It felt great.

Now I just have to remember to practice all of this on Christmas morning……..

By receiving I am giving,
SARAH