Taking is an addiction… and giving without limits is corrupting
8/25/20251 min read
Taking is an addiction… and giving without limits is corrupting
Most people — in most circumstances — lean more toward taking than giving. Yet, when taking continues without limits, it becomes an addiction that never satisfies its owner.
As for giving, if it exceeds its proper bounds and runs unchecked, it weakens the giver and corrupts the takers, as they grow accustomed to receiving everything from others without offering anything in return.
People often demand more from you than they themselves give: they ask for your help more than they help you, they ask for your understanding more than they understand you, they ask for your compassion more than they show you compassion, they ask for your listening more than they listen to you, and they ask for your commitment and honesty more than they uphold them with you.
The wise course, then, is to give with balance:
1. Choose who truly deserves your giving.
2. Choose when to give, and when to withhold.
3. Make your giving according to what suits you and brings peace to your heart, not according to what others impose on you or drain from you.
In this way, you will be safe from frustration, escape the addiction of takers, and protect yourself from allowing your giving to become a source of corruption for others or of weakness for yourself.