Try Giving Yourself Away

Rings and jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only gift is a portion of thyself.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

In the late 1940s

David Dunn wrote an article

The reader response was overwhelming

So he expanded the idea into a book—

Try Giving Yourself Away

A chronicle of what started as a hobby

And eventually became

His way of life

His method is simple:

“Stop as you rush through life

Look for all the friendly, thoughtful, courteous things

You can do

All the little human needs

You can fill

Listen to people and learn

Of their hopes and their problems

So that you will be able to contribute

In little ways to their success and happiness”

One of his favorite actions:

To write short notes of specific thanks

To friends and strangers

Restaurant chefs and shop owners

Dunn keeps it simple

It doesn’t have to be a big production

Little amounts of time add up

Two minutes here, five minutes there

He believes that there are a hundred ways to give

And they all start from the heart

So he advises to act immediately on those warm-hearted impulses

When it comes to giving to another

If this all sounds familiar to you

Perhaps it’s because you know Fatima Rhodes

Who gives herself away

As easily as she breathes

One example:  When I announced

A gathering to discuss Mev’s The Struggle is One

Fatima ordered three copies from Amazon

To give to me

To pass on to those I might know

Who would want to be part of the discussion

A second example: She gave me

A black Moleskine and set of pens

A third example: Seeing her at the sink

Washing the dishes one potluck after another

Fatima gives with such humaine chaleur

And kindness, courtesy and consideration

I leave you with these words of David Dunn

Which echo Tolstoy’s story of “The Emperor’s Three Questions”—

“Any person of sincerity and good will

Who will persevere in giving himself away more generously

Than he has ever thought of doing up to this minute

Will enjoy a much happier life from now on”