THe philosophy of hte Open Hand...

Have you ever heard that you can trap a monkey with a closed cage and a piece of fruit? The illustration is somewhat over-simplified, but perfectly illustrates the philosophy of the Philosophy of the Open Hand. Let me explain. If you put a delicious piece of fruit, such a banana, or a melon inside a cage with bars just wide enough for a monkey to slip his hand between to reach the fruit, he will grab it, and try to get it out. However, he will not be able to, as he will not let the fruit go to get his hand out of the cage. Thus, he finds himself on the horns of a dilemma. If he lets go, he does not have the fruit, but if he does not let go, cannot be free. Poor little monkey, torn between freedom and greed. Perhaps another illustration from another angle will help to make the point.

Consider that your life is like a glass filled with water. The glass represents your ability to give, receive, and hold "stuff" (money, love, ideas, time, kind words, and so on), and the water is the "stuff" you have. Of course, the bigger the glass, the more you can hold, but essentially, all humans have a similar-sized glass. (Bitterness can cause your glass to crack and break, but that is another post for another time).

Now, every person is born empty, and every person is taught (to a greater or lesser degree) by their families / environment / surroundings / friends / etc how to give and receive "stuff", and some are better at this process than others. Some seem to have an innate ability to do this, while for others it seems to be more difficult.

While some people also have a gift to make "stuff", there is a caveat. You can only receive "stuff" if there is space in your glass, and you can only make space in your glass if you empty your glass. Guess what? You can only empty your glass by giving "stuff" away to others.

It is really very simple. You can only have someone pour something into your glass if it has space, and there will only be space if you have poured some of your own out into someone else's - by giving something away. Here is my challenge to Blogville: Catch someone doing something right today, not only in Blogville, but in RL too. See what a difference smiling at someone can make. Seems silly, but it's true. Another side effect is that you may even feel better about yourself...