Essay Philosphical Topic by Manoj K. Jha

Model Answer

Essay #1.  Giving is Getting.

Think about the feeling you get right before you give a gift to someone that you know they will like. There’s no other feeling like when that person accepts the gift and smiles. The act of giving is the act of receiving, and the act of receiving is the act of giving. So today, think of someone in your life you can impart with a gift. It can be in the form of a compliment, a prayer; you can be the person who listens to them or makes them laugh. You will find that by transferring this gift to them, you are on the receiving end as well.

Ask yourself this question? Is it easier for me to give or receive? For many of us, it is much easier to give. We may have grown up being told that it is better to give than to receive. We have been told that being generous is noble and receiving and accepting praise is prideful.  When someone gives you a compliment and we are able to actually receive it with grace and gratitude, it gives them a gift back. We are energetically telling them that they matter. That what they say matters.That we are truly receiving the essence of their communication. The energetic cycle remains unbroken and expands. When we receive, we are giving and when we are giving, and they receive it, we are getting something back. Giving and receiving is the same energy.

Let’s understand the importance of giving through some of the issues where it matters the most.  The World Bank sets the standard for extreme poverty at $1.90 a day, according to recent data. Currently, 702 million people, or 9.6 percent of the global population, fall into this category, struggling to survive on that amount or frequently less. While sustainable development is critical to the elimination of extreme poverty, individual giving plays a crucial role in combating extreme poverty.  For example, malaria is the single biggest drag on the African economy.  Funding anti-malaria bed nets has played a significant role in reducing the incidence of malaria and childhood mortality.  Further, helping to fund medications to fight diseases can mean a child is able to stay in school, or that a parent is able to continue to work to support their family. Donating can help provide the resources that are essential for a better standard of living. Extreme poverty is a result of many factors — historical, as well as current economic, political and social causes.  But the fact is that helping people now not only reduces unnecessary suffering and saves lives, but helps create the conditions that favour eliminating both extreme poverty and many of the factors that maintain it.

When we give,  we are more likely to get back: Several studies, including work by sociologists Brent Simpson and Robb Willer, have suggested that when we give to others, our generosity is likely to be rewarded by others down the line—sometimes by the person you gave to, sometimes by someone else. These exchanges promote a sense of trust and cooperation that strengthens our ties to others—and research has shown that having positive social interactions is central to good mental and physical health. As researcher John Cacioppo writes in his book Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection, “The more extensive the reciprocal altruism born of social connection . . . the greater the advance toward health, wealth, and happiness.” What’s more, when we give to others, we don’t only make them feel closer to us; we also feel closer to them. “Being kind and generous leads you to perceive others more positively and more charitably,” writes Lyubomirsky in her book The How of Happiness, and this “fosters a heightened sense of interdependence and cooperation in your social community.”

Let’s explore the essence of giving in the context of our society. Why give back to society? Giving back or donating to the causes that you care benefits not only the charity but also benefits you. There are too many advantages of giving back that you can even realize. Giving back will make you feel deeply rewarding at heart. Millions of people have a habit of constantly giving to the society to support causes that they believe in.

For example if we help others in need it gives an immense level of satisfaction. There will never be a perfect time to give back as we are not living in a perfect world. But there are always a few people who need help in tough situations. Irrespective of the economy being in doldrums and the interests rates  rising, it is human to donate to people that need money. Our financial difficulties only last a while, but their last for a lifetime. It helps in strengthening of personal values.

Giving has a boomerang effect. Love comes for love. Give respect and dignity you get back the same. When you support people in crisis, you are never let alone by them when you are in a crisis. Giving is really getting in this sense.  Should we match our giving exactly with what we expect to get? Yes and no. A student or an athlete has to give more efforts for higher and better performance. But there are times when our capacity of giving does not match or reflect the extent of our feeling. Think of Krishna-Sudama or the gift of Magi. The feeling and idea behind giving is what matters more, the capacity cannot constraint the beauty and positivity of giving. Think of Ram-Shanti episode or squirrels contributing small pebbles in Ram’s effort to make a bridge to Lanka to bring Sita back.

Giving makes a family better. Look at your mother. Look at your teacher. Look at your doctor. Look at house maids, sweepers, cobblers, car and rickshaw pullers, all of them give more than what they get, but they make the world not only going, but better than what it is. Giving makes a society better. Look at Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mother Teressa and Nelson Mandela. Look at scientists and inventors, they all made the world better and more loveable. Giving is the noblest act of all indeed.

Conclusively, we may be disappointed at times that we do not get back as much we give; nevertheless, it should not always restraint us in giving. We should give only to the neediest, but this does not stop us from giving diamond to our beloved. It is a matter of priority and that determines the deservedness of giving. Some thought also needs to be given on deservedness of the recipient. All scruple should be used, but giving cannot always be done to get back individually some reciprocal benefits. There may be larger benefits of giving for the sake of society, goodness and humanity.

Do good get good. Do bad get bad. When we hurt others, others also hurt us. When we leave people helpless at the time of need, they also leave us when we need them most. When we do not care and become extremely self-Centre, we lose friends and often create more enemies. Good karmas and good dharmas help, bad ones wreck us.