I love to give and there is nothing that I love to give more than gifts that empower the recipients and give them the means to create MORE from the gift. There is nothing that does that better for a family than a gift that nourishes and also generates income for the family to support themselves. It's the gift of pure empowerment, self esteem and sustainability.
My favorite way to give this empowerment and sustainability is to give
livestock to a family unable to afford food or provide for it's
members. For years I've given chickens. I LOVE to give chickens, it
feels SO WONDERFUL! I celebrate after each chicken donation. But for
as long as I've given chickens, I've always longed to give a goat.
I've rationalized the chickens were a better investment, reasoning that
4 or 6 chickens produce a lot of eggs which can be eaten by the family
and also sold to raise money for other supplies for the family. Add a
rooster and chicks can be raised multiplying the gift. Powerfully
reasoning right? Yes, it felt mighty good to give chickens.
But every time I gave them, I looked longingly at that adorable goat
feeling I'd really like to give a goat. Each and every time I chose
the chickens feeling they offered more options.
Well the other day I received a card in the mail and what was it
about? The amazing blessing that giving the gift of a goat was to a
family in need! I felt this joyful energy build inside of me as I read
it and I declared out loud, "I'm going to give a goat!!"
I raced to the
computer and went to the giving website, paused for a moment as the
chickens stared me in the face and my mind kicked in with the
rationalizations, but I pushed through, resolving to give the goat.
And I did! I gave a goat! ... and something amazing happened... the
joy I felt rushing through me was indescribable! I mean
happy-tears-of-celebration type joy! No chicken gift EVER felt anywhere
this delicious. The joy of giving a goat was off the charts
wonderful! I danced around in joy, bursting with happiness, moved to
tears by the sheer joy of having given a goat. WOW!
Had I known that the
feeling of giving a goat was 100 times more powerful than the feeling
of giving the chickens, I would have given a goat long ago. I
received a powerful teaching that day in the giving of the goat. It
was, listen to your heart, it always knows the way to your highest
joy. My mind had been the one choosing the chickens and I followed
it's logic, overriding the heart's desire to give the gift of the
goat. In doing so, I was robbing myself of an amazing experience.
May
you always choose to listen to your heart, because knowing the path to
your highest joy, it feels 100 times more incredible than listening to
your mind!
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Amy Flynn, All rights reserved. For reprint permission, please
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