You Can't Give What You Don't Have

Remember the old TV show "Let's Make a Deal"? Monty Hall would say to a lady in the audience, "I'll give you fifty dollars if you have a hard boiled egg in your purse." Sure enough, the exuberant lady would pull out the egg and collect her cool fifty. She came prepared. She had watched the show often enough to know what kinds of things Monty was likely to request. We can only give what we have. Had the lady not brought along the egg, she could not have presented it at the appointed time. Ok, thanks, Captain Obvious. What has this got to do with anything? It's about relationships. Miserable people give away their misery. If you don't have joy, you can't give joy. If you only have misery, then that's the only item in your "bag." Do you wonder why some people leave you feeling drained every time you're near them? Misery drains your energy. It's hard to keep people propped up all the time. Maybe you'd be doing them a favor to let them prop themselves up once in a while. Joy comes from giving & serving others. When you get out of yourself and start living for others you build joy in your heart. Only when you have it then are you able to give it away. Forgive the ones who spread misery. They can only give what they have. Maybe you can share with them the secret to having the joy they need, instead of propping them up.