Sweetness of Sharing

Sweetness of Sharing

You’re forgiven for your happiness and your successes only if you generously consent to share them.                       Albert Camus

Benevolence and sharing forms a big part of human culture. It has always been a key element in the Indian culture. This tradition is so reverential that in a household people do not start eating before they offer it to a deity or someone in need.Only then the members of the household partake of their food. Children are taught to share their toys and eatables with their friends and other children who are less endowed. Enjoying anything alone may make one happy for a short amount of time. When we share the same things with other people, we not only enjoy that thing more, we also make new friends. These friends become closer to us, because they not only form a special bond, but because they respect us too.

There is a lovely folklore about the beauty of sharing

There once was a farmer who grew the most excellent wheat. Every season he won the award for the best wheat in his country. A woman once came to him to ask him about his success. He told her that the key was sharing his best seed with his neighbours so they could plant the seed as well. The wise woman asked, “How can you share your best wheat seed with your neighbours when they compete with you every year?” “That’s simple,” the farmer replied. “The wind spreads the pollen from everyone’s wheat and carries it from field to field. If my neighbours grew inferior wheat, cross-pollination would degrade everyone’s wheat, including mine. If I’m to grow the best wheat, I must help my neighbours grow the best wheat as well.”

This is not only excellent advice for growing the best crops, but also great advice for how to live your life. The more good you spread the more it comes back to you. If you want to live a meaningful and happy life, help others find happiness.

A hoarder is never a happy man. This, one could say not just by quoting saints but by taking a look around. The more one hoards the more fearful his life becomes. There is always the fear of loss, theft and hatred of those around them. He who hates to share is often the least like person around. The happiness he gets from those things he possess is transitory. It will never make anyone perpetually happy. Whereas what is shared will give happiness not only based on the qualities of the object itself but on the joy of sharing.

So much of what we have is not truly needed but held on for the purpose of owning it. These things may have vital importance and need in someone else’s life. If shared this could well mean the difference between life and death for that person. The sharing would not just save a life it will perhaps be the birth of a great relationship. When shared the value of a thing increases manifold and brings more meaning to the object itself.

However the greatest form of sharing is the sharing of knowledge and time. While they are at the opposite ends In terms of the loss or gain, they are similar in that they always brings forth the most beneficial results.

Knowledge shared is never lost. In fact it enhances with every instance of sharing. It makes true value when the receiver is able to use the knowledge to good use and benefit from it.

Time one the other hand is one commodity, which once lost is lost forever. Yet when one shares time with someone or shares it for someone else it is the ultimate form of giving.