Basically we give what we are: ‘The thoughts you think,” wrote Maeterlinck, ” will irradiate you though you are a transparent vase.”
The gifts of things are never as precious as the gifts of thought.
Emerson said it well: “Rings and jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only true gift is a portion of thyself.”
We give of ourselves when we give gifts of the heart: love kindness, joy, understanding, sympathy, tolerance, forgiveness…
We give of ourselves when we give gifts of the mind: ideas, dreams, purposes, ideals, principles, plans, inventions, projects, poetry…..
We give of ourselves when we give gifts of the spirit: prayer, vision, beauty, aspiration, peace, faith…..
We give of ourselves when we give the gift of time; when we are minute builders of more abundant living for others…
We give of ourselves when we give the gift of words: encouragement, inspiration, guidance…..
The finest gift a man can give to his age and time is the gift of constructive and creative life.
Exerpts from The Art of Living Wilfred Peterson