Give Without Expectation

"When I chased after money, I never had enough. When I got my life on purpose and focused on giving of myself and everything that arrived into my life, then I was prosperous."

~Wayne Dyer~

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United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 8283

Noncash Charitable Contributions

Contributions From Which You Benefit

If you receive a benefit as a result of making a contribution to a qualified organization, you can deduct only the amount of your contribution that is more than the value of the benefit you receive.

In ex; you pay $65 for a ticket to a dinner-dance at a church. All the proceeds of the function go to the church. The ticket to the dinner-dance has a fair market value of $25. When you buy your ticket, you know that its value is less than your payment. To figure the amount of your charitable contribution, you subtract the value of the benefit you receive ($25) from your total payment ($65). You can deduct $40 as a charitable contribution to the church.

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Even the U.S. government acknowledges that to gift something, there can be no benefit to you if it truly is a gift. The gift given can not result in you receiving anything in return of tangible value. If so, that portion of the gift can not be claimed on your taxes.

Thank goodness we don't get taxed on the intangible aspects of giving. Or at least until govenrment officials figure out how to tax one's heart. The intangible benefit to giving can fill one's heart and soul with greatness. A benefit that can not be measured or taxed for that matter.

Gifts to others can come in many different forms such as money, clothing, or services. I see gifting not only in those forms, but in the every day things I see others do. The holding of a door open for another person, the friendly hello or carrying the grocery bags of another. The gifts we give manifest themselves in the form of a smile or handshake.

A gift can even be in the acknowledgement of the other person. So many times we walk through our day glancing away from others. We glance away from the homeless, the jobless, the lonely or the hungry. We even glance away from those we work with or even love. Too many times we are afraid to acknowledge another because we 'might' be asked for more.

Good golly, we might need to help someone that is in need. We might even have to forgo our tired state and interact. Yet the act of giving when nothing in return is expected or even seemingly possible will give back more then you imagine. An overwhelming feeling of energy and happiness fills your being.

Psychology Today wrote, "We've all heard the old adage that it's better to give than to receive, but why this is so is less known. As will become clear, giving is a gift—not only to others, but to ourselves—because it increases the bond between us and the person to whom we have given, tells us about ourselves and generally increases our feelings of competence."

In religious terms (2 Corinthians 8 & 9), translators had used an
English word, ‘liberality’/’liberal’ (or ‘generous’ in later versions) which suggested the size or extent of the gift, to represent a Greek word haplotes/haplos, which really meant ‘sincere, simple, unaffected,’ and related to the heart attitude or motive of the giver.

So giving comes from the heart with no expectation in return. This giving comes in large ways such as huge sums of money or other assets. But the majority of giving comes in small, seemingly meaningless ways. It is the small gifts which can have such a large impact on someone's life. Their life gets impacted and in an almost undetectable way, we get impacted.

So give without expectation of getting anything in return. Give with your heart and make a difference in the life of someone. Watch your own life gain something greater and best of all, no one can place a tax on that.

Speaking From Beyond

Anita Kunz

So here I am, a full week of having meetings and lots of talking.  I mean a whole lot of talking going on.  I learned some time ago that when these types of weeks come along, forget drinking anything but lots of water.  Through out our lives we talk continuously.

If we take some averages thrown out there that women on average speak 20,000 words in a day and men only 7,000 words; I'll take an average of 13,500 words per day. If you then figure the average lifespan of a person (world average) of 68.9 years, then a person speaks roughly 338,715,000 words in a lifetime. Give or take a few words.

I then find it interesting that someone would have invented a device that will let you speak even beyond this lifetime. I kid you not, a Talking Tombstone that is described as a "Video Enhanced Gravemarker". I'm not certain how serious this is, but I would assume that once you have passed on, its time to let someone else do the talking.

We have plenty of time during our lives to say what we want. The point I'm trying to make is to make those words count. Tell someone how great they are today. Tell someone close to you how much you love them. Tell others the good things that can make their lives better.

It doesn't mean you can't correct someone or be critical at times. We do all too much of that is the problem. Find something good to say as well. Don't wait until the time runs short. My challenge to you is to finish reading this article, maybe pass it along to someone, but more importantly call someone and tell them something good about their life.

Painting Opportunity

"All great work is preparing yourself for the accident to happen." ~Sidney Lumet

The story is all too common, you train and train, waiting for your moment to succeed in one of a thousand different careers. You search and knock on doors, trying to get your foot inside. Nothing becomes a reality, so while the pursuit of the dream continues, you wait on tables, sell shoes or deliver pizza.

There is story similar to so many of us. Her name was Mardee Hoff, a young model in pursuit of an acting career. Time and again she tried but failed to get any auditions for acting work. So she performed many odd jobs, doing what she could to keep herself positioned.

One day she was called to model for a magazine. Someone was needed to pose for a cover painting on the Saturday Evening Post. Famed artist Norman Rockwell did many of the covers during this time period. So the job was deemed prestigous and it helped pay the rent, which was more important.

She didn't know what the pose was going to be. But again it was modeling and that was something she knew how to do. So pose for the picture, earn a paycheck and keep pursuing the acting. As luck would have it, the drawing was of a Hollywood starlet being surrounded by 1930s papparazzi.

Opportunity was close at hand, much closer then she may have expected. When the cover appeared on newsstands around the country, a door was about to open for Mardee. The phone began to ring with calls from movie companies. Eventually she came under contract with 20th Century Fox Studio.

The many failed attempts to get an audition had not been a waste. The odd jobs and modeling had not been a waste. All were preparing her for one audition she didn't fully realize was the one. The one that would place her next to a door of opportunity. She realized her dream of becoming an actress. She placed herself in alignment with opportunity that came along when she least expected it.

Opportunity holds the same door open for you. But you have to place yourself near it. You meet up with it along your path. If you do nothing, it will be rare that you meet up with opportunity. Keep moving forward, keep trying new things, keep pursuing your dream. Eventually you will meet up with opportunity and the door to your dream will open wide.

The picture of your life will get painted in an unexpected way. Life will open up before you and it will be opportunity that holds the key to that door.  Put your self near the door, prepare to meet up with it and walk through.

Where The Wind

"Go West, young man, and grow up with the country." ~John B. L. Soule

While Horace Greeley often times gets the credit for saying this famous quote, it was actually first made by John B. L. Soule. It appeared as the title to an 1851 Terre Haute Express editorial written by Mr. Soule. The quote by Horace Greeley was, "Go West, young man, Go West" and became a part of the American lexicon.

And why would I really talk about this particular quote? It was the first thing I thought of when I learned a friend was moving west with his wife. A new job that will invigorate his soul awaits him in Stillwater, OK. Gary and Marion are on a new journey of excitement; a new journey of change.

As the song from the musical Oklahoma goes;

OOOO-klahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain
And the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet
When the wind comes right behind the rain.
Oklahoma, Ev'ry night my honey lamb and I
Sit alone and talk and watch a hawk
Makin' lazy circles in the sky.

What a great change for a man that has kept faith in his beliefs and abilities. He has certainly had to overcome the depths of self-doubt but his journey has always been an inspiration to me. So many times we teeter on the brink of allowing life to overcome us. We come perilously close to simply giving up. Yet we keep ourselves inspired and push forward.

There's never been a better time to start in life-
It ain't too early and it aint too late!
Starting as a farmer with a brand new wife-
Still be living in a brand-new state!
Brand new state-
gonna treat you great!
Gonna buy you barley, carrots and pertaters,
Pasture for the cattle, spinich and termaters,
Flowers on the prarie where the June bugs zoom,
Plen'y of air and plen'y of room,
Plen'y of room to swing a rope!
Plen'y of heart and plen'y of hope.

And no, not a new wife....but together they can change the lyric to say, "starting as a farmer with a brand new life-" Together they are planting the seeds of great new friendships. They are certainly going to be missed here in Atlanta, yet we know we haven't lost them. Once you have sown the seeds of friendship, it remains for a life time.

We also know that change happens all around us. The scenery will look different when we redirect the path of our life.

We know we belong to this life
And the life we belong to is grand!
And when we say
Yeeow! Aye-yip-aye-yo-ee-ay!
We're only sayin'
You're doin' fine, Everyone!
Yeeow!

I'm proud to know Gary and Marion; happy to see them on this new adventure. And as the song goes, "We're only sayin' - You're doin' fine." In fact, "we're all doin' fine."

Embrace the changes that can take place in your life, your best life.