Hi to all readers, sorry for missing in action for the past few weeks. I was away in Cambodia for community service at this village named Koh Krobey. I had a fruitful experience and I learnt a great deal from the children living in the same village as me.
As a volunteer, it is just as natural for me to want to provide the children with everything that I can. Very soon, I realised it is not just plain simple giving.
I began to feel that I should not be giving them everything but rather things that they really want and need. That’s when I realised the importance of listening to their dialogues and discover the needs and wants.
Too many a times, I realised we just presumed what others need, forgetting that these are just assumptions in our Model of the World. It also dawned on me that giving too much can cause dissatisfaction because the other party feels misunderstood and that he/she do not deserved as much. My principle of giving is that it has to improve the quality of life of the recipient. Giving is no longer an act of generosity or kindness if it belittles the recipient.
Listening and observing is an art to be practised and giving just what are required at the appropriate times is definitely better than giving too much.
December 28th, 2005 at 1:04 am
Giving too much!!! uhm.. that’s interesting concept. giving to little becomes stretching too much, giving too much become too complacent. How do you know when is it enough? From my prepective, giving is something to do with you and your higher good.
December 29th, 2005 at 6:37 pm
Hey Yezhong,
this is a really good observation. It set me thinking on this issue too when u shared it during the sharing session. Catch up with you someday!
-Kelvin
December 29th, 2005 at 9:08 pm
Hey Kelvin,
thanks for dropping by. Great to hear from you. Hope this does not deter you from giving anymore to the kids.
April 8th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
Interesting concept here. I always believe that giving everything we can is the way to make others happy… apparently too much of it will make other parties dissatisfied. Thanks for posting this.