Notes from Minty's Diary
I listen to Mo Twister, Mojo and Grace Lee's show everyday, and I usually find myself chuckling at the various ruses their listeners try to snag a big prize or two offered for the day - lunch at Sofitel, a pair of the two David's concerts happening this weekend.
I sometimes wonder how the trio can spot a bullshi__er a few seconds from their starting spiel. As a regular listener to the show,I try to guess who's the leg puller and the nice as sunshine, no wool in the eye, straight shooter legit caller giving genuine compliments. I still make mistakes, and as it turns out, these guessing games on the real intent of the callers can get quite messy.
Take this day, last Wednesday, when nothing seemed to be happening, and the Twister was just talking about important/irrelevant/mundane/crazy/funny stuff like he usually does.The hosts opened the calls to their listeners, and entertained this quite nice lady caller who said thank you to Mo for teaching her important life lessons every day, and my heart kinda melted for a bit. What a nice lady!
"But then, it's my birthday next week. ." the nice lady started. .
"Ayan na!" Mojo's sharp rebuke snapped me from my current cloudy state.
"Oh no, you ruined it." Grace retorted.
Ruined what, I wondered.
There was a pause or two from Mo.
"No." He finally decided. "No tickets for you."
"You're not supposed to ask for it. It's supposed to be given." Oh that sneaky listener. I'm so naive I was in a cloudy state vicariously lifted by her compliments I almost fell for the ruse too.
At first glance, the Twister, Mojo and Grace Lee could be quite mean to those blubbering, devious, deceitful slobs, but in the same instance these three hosts could also be unbelievably generous, finding ways and means to snag gifts for the listeners. A laptop? A car? A cooking certificate? Name it, and they have tried hard to give back as much as they could possibly give, in the limited time that they have.
The amazing thing is,even if they're churlish about not giving in to requests of their listeners, why do I not resent it?
I started reflecting on this, and looked for the book that was quite esoteric to me for a long time, but whose passages haunt me now, since the passages I've not entirely understood before becomes clearer to me, after witnessing that exchange between a reluctant giver and a leecher. The book was hidden under a bed, of all places, and I started reading Deepak Chopra's book "The Seven Soiritual Laws of Success". I hurriedly leaf through the pages and read the second law - the "Law of Giving".
"Every relationship is one of give and take. Giving engenders receiving, and receiving engenders giving. What goes up must come down; what goes out must come back..
"In fact, anything that is of value in life only multiplies when it is given. That which doesn't multiply through giving is neither worth giving nor worth receiving. IF, THROUGH THE ACT OF GIVING, YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LOST SOMETHING, THEN THE GIFT IS NOT TRULY GIVEN AND WILL NOT CAUSE INCREASE. If you give grudgingly, there is no energy behind that giving."
Hmmm. . intriguing huh? I continue. .
"It is the INTENTION BEHIND YOUR GIVING AND RECEIVING THAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. The intention should always be to CREATE HAPPINESS for the giver and receiver, because happiness is life-supporting and life-sustaining and therefore generates increase. The return is directly proportional to the giving when it is unconditional and from the heart. That is why the ACT OF GIVING has to be JOYFUL - the frame of mind has to be one in which you feel JOY in the very act of giving. Then the energy behind the giving increases many times over.
"Practicing the Law of Giving is actually very simple : if you want joy, give joy to others; if you want love, learn to give love; if you want attention and appreciation, learn to give attention and appreciation; if you want material affluence, help others to become materially affluent. In fact, the easiest way to get what you want is to help others get what they want. The principle works equally well for individuals, corporations, societies and nations. If you want to be blessed with all the good things in life, learn to silently bless everyone with all the good things in life."
Mo, Mojo and Grace Lee were correct in withholding those tickets from a boorish listener. The intention of the caller was not from a place of joy or happiness, there was no sense of love for the hosts really. Sneaky caller tried to sugar-coat and deceive them, flattering them, coercing them in a backhanded way to get those tickets. And that energy as Deepak Chopra had explained, is dead. If the trio were sucked in to give grudgingly, there is no energy behind that giving. In fact, a sense of negativity clouds the whole transaction.
I sometimes feel guilty about not giving to the street kids when they hover around my car in Manila's gridlocked streets. When I am compelled to give, I never felt good about it. And now I understood why. Giiving one peso will not help a street child to be materially affluent, in fact giving this peso will keep this child dependent and lazy. If I want to really help this child, I should come from a place of love. I should not give with a heavy feeling in my heart. Perhaps I should find a permanent way to help these children? Work in an NGO, donate a dozen computers and a hundred new books in a public school? As long as my intention is to help, these little steps would go a long way, right?
It's 9:00 am, and Mo is signing off. Another day, another lesson in life. It's funny how one picks up life lessons in the most unexpected way.
The book of Deepak Chopra is fluttering against the wind, as if it was inviting me to read its pages again. I glanced at the different laws - "The Law of Lease Effort", "The Law of Intention and Desire'. Looks like my weekend will be full devouring these passages.
Goodtimes!!!
thanks to claudia assad for the picture above.
