Giving and receiving
Don’t you feel great, when you have the opportunity to help someone, and they graciously accept and receive your help?
Contrast that to how it feels when you offer help and they turn you down, reject your offer, or take your help begrudgingly.
The whole giving/receiving cycle is pretty messed up, because it’s all tied up with power. The giving position, in our culture, is the easy one, the one that’s celebrated, and considered the power position. Receiving, by and large, is taken to mean you’re weak.
And yet, what happens when everyone wants to give, and no one is willing to be receptive? The cycle stops. The givers have no one to give to. It grinds to a halt and everyone is frustrated. I chose this photo to illustrate the beautiful balance, in this case, a balance between giving and receiving trust and support. On a day in the canyon, trust and support are given and received all day long.
I teach about this all the time – and this morning I had one of my wonderful little word-epiphanies that help me communicate a new idea.
The word is receptive.
How does it feel when someone is receptive of your help?
How do you feel, when YOU are openly receptive of someone’s help?
Being truly receptive is something that only centered, grounded and powerful people can do.
In fact, I would say that often it is THE most powerful position.
The opposite of receptive, in my way of thinking, is defensive – which is a very weak place to be.
Thank you for being powerfully receptive of my message.
How about GIVING a comment here, to let me know what you think about giving and receiving, receptive and defensive? I’d be honored to receive it!
Thanks