Giving is an art, an essence of existence and a test of our character. It asks deep questions about our relationship to others, to ourselves and to time itself. To give well, appropriately and often is to establish a beautiful symmetry between the part of us that wishes to be generous and the part of the world that is surprised and happy to receive.
– David Whyte
from Readers’ Circle Essay, “Giving”
©2011 David Whyte
I just saw this quote on Facebook (thank you Tom Wojick) and it reminded me about this article: “The Paradox of Giving”
What do you truly want? And what would you give to find that?
Emotional intelligence is a resource we all have, but it’s hard to use this capability without a process, a roadmap. In the Six Seconds Model of Emotional Intelligence, there are three “pursuits” forming a process framework that enables people to be more effective by tapping the power and wisdom of feelings. The first two pursuits are reasonably straightforward, albeit enormously challenging to accomplish consistently. The third is a paradox that many find contradictory… yet it’s what makes the model transformational.
The more I think about this, the more I realize how powerful it is to shift to this way of being in the world. Not an easy step, especially in a world that is so focused on taking and having.
