henrypaget.com

On my substack feed I see a lot of like for like, follow for follow sort of behaviour, people are only liking or following other people’s posts because of what they can get from doing it.

You see, this is one of the problems I have with karma, it’s all about doing good things so good things happen to you, and I don’t particularly like that.

The best way to give is honestly and expect nothing in return. Just like how God gave us the gift of life without wanting anything from us in return (God did it out of love).

Some wisdom from Marcus Aurelius

I remember reading Marcus Aurelius‘s Meditations a while back (the stoic Roman Emperor) and he said and I paraphrase “when some people do someone a favour they are always looking for a chance to call it in, they expect something back”. We should not try to be like that, we should give to, and help others because it’s the right thing to do and for no other reason.

Many families are broken up because of this

One common case of conflict between families is when one family member lends another member of their family money and it never gets paid back. Remember the following to make sure you don’t end up in a pickle. If you want to lend someone money or even if you do someone a favour, expect nothing back.

Because the fact is, if all your giving is conditional, you are not actually a giver. You just turn the very people you are trying to help into enemies.

When you do someone a favour don’t track it on a spreadsheet or ponder about it, just forget about it and do it for its own sake, and spiritually you’ll feel much better. And know that you’d have got closer to God, to heaven on Earth.

Just to know you’ve helped someone is enough

Since I’ve started writing, I’ve had many messages from people thanking me for how my writing has helped them, for me, there is no better feeling than helping others. If you are going to be addicted to something, be addicted to that.

I’ll finish this off with a quote from Benjamin Franklin.

“To serve the common good is divine.”

And remember no one objects to what is good for them. And what is good for them? Being someone helpful, someone generous. This is one of the many reasons I write.