By Gerald Jampolsky
To Give is to Receive is the law of Love. Under this law, when we give our Love away to others we gain, and what we give we simultaneously receive. The Law of Love is based on abundance; we are completely filled with Love all the time, and our supply is always full and running over. When we give our Love unconditionally to others with no expectations of return, the Love within us extends, expands, and joins. So by giving our Love away we increase the Love within us and everyone gains.
The Law of the world, on the other hand, states that what we give away we lose. That is to say, when we give something away, we don't have it any more and suffer a loss.
The world's law is based on the belief in scarcity. It holds that we are never really satisfied. We continue to feel empty as we vainly attempt to get fulfilled by seeking Love and peace in whatever external forms we have come to think of as desirable.
The problem, of course, is that nothing in our external world will continuously and totally satisfy us. Under the world's law, we continuously search but never find. We frequently think our inner well is empty and that we are in need. We then try to fulfill our imagined needs through other people.
When we expect others to satisfy our desires, and they disappoint us, as they inevitably must, we then experience distress. This distress can take the form of frustration, disappointment, anger, depression, or illness. As a result we are likely to feel trapped, limited, rejected or attached.
When we are feeling unloved and depressed and empty inside, finding someone to give us Love is not really the solution. What is helpful is to Love someone else totally and with no expectations. That Love, then, is simultaneously given to ourselves. The other person doesn't have to change or give us anything.
The world's distorted concept is that you have to get other people's Love before you can feel Love within. The law of Love is different from the world's law. The law of Love is that you are Love, and that as you give Love to others you teach yourself what you are.
