“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another,” said the famous writer Charles Dickens.  Research shows that people’s sense of happiness is greater when they spend relatively more on others than on themselves.  The definition of “give” is to freely transfer the possession of something to someone.  Giving has an immense effect on people and can positively change both the giver and the receiver’s lives.  Therefore, the value in giving is priceless.  Helping others is always the right choice to make because giving is better than receiving.
On a warm spring day, at the age of thirteen, I traveled to the country of Panama on a mission trip to aid kids at a Children’s Home.  My group and I accomplished many tasks that week to update the residence for these orphans. We painted cracked, chipped, and worn down exterior walls with a creamy white paint.  I gazed as the walls transformed from brown to white, like rain water running down a muddy windshield.  We also welded new iron beds for the children and painted them with a midnight black as dark as the sky on a moonless night.  These beds were definitely more durable than the old broken, wooden frames they had been sleeping on.  As I took one last glimpse at the old beds piled up for trash, I thought to myself, “How could they have sleep on something so ragged?”, but I knew it was all they had.  That afternoon, as the kids walked up the road toward the home, returning from school, they began to watch us do our work. All of their moods suddenly shifted. They started patting us on the back and giving us a “thumbs up” with a look of awe on their face.  They were so pleased and overjoyed with something so simple, and grateful for all of it. Giving is better than receiving because if my mission group never gave our time or effort at this children’s home, these kids would live in a dilapidated environment.  This experience gave me an appreciation for all the blessings I have in my life and I left there feeling that I had gained more than they did.

A few years ago, I volunteered to serve food to the less fortunate here in Elizabethtown, Kentucky at a place called Warm Blessings.  This was an extremely “eye-opening” experience for me because I realized that even people in our own community need a lot of help, just like people in other countries.  It was amazing how grateful these people were just for food.  Most of them said, “Thank you” as they came through the dinner line and a few even said, “What you are doing is a great thing.”  It seemed to them like they were at the nicest restaurant in town. As I vacuumed the floor after the meal, a couple and a family complimented me on how hard I was working.  I didn’t know what to expect before I volunteered and I really didn’t expect the guests to be so nice, loving, and caring.  I realized they are normal people just like me who happen to be in a tough situation in their life.  If it weren’t for volunteers giving their time, effort, and money to facilities like this, these people might not ever get a warm meal and would go hungry.  I then recognized that I take food for granted and I should appreciate what I have, instead of complaining and always wanting more.  This experience reinforced my belief that giving is better than receiving.
When I was in the 4th grade, my class sponsored an Angel tree child.  An Angel tree is where gifts are donated to a less fortunate kid for Christmas.  We all brought in different toys the kid liked and set them around a tree.  Some of the toys donated were Nerf guns, Legos, and cars.  Once we acquired the gifts, the teacher took them to the boy’s parents.  The teacher said the parents were overjoyed, grateful, and anxious to give them to their son for Christmas.  We all imagined the boy’s glowing, smiling, round face when he wakes Christmas day and sees all his presents under the tree shimmering with lights.  It reminded me of a time when I was younger and gave my dad’s friend’s son my Play Station 2 because they didn’t have much for Christmas that year.  My family decided to help them out so my sister and I could learn how important it is to give to others.  If people never gave to others, both of these boys would have woken up and found little to nothing for Christmas.  That would be the worst feeling ever.  I gained a sense of the benefits of being kind and helping others, and not always focusing on my needs and wants.  I also learned that sometimes people need to sacrifice what they have for the good of others.  Giving is so necessary and should be put over individual wants.

In a nutshell, I feel my experiences have strengthened my viewpoint that giving is better than receiving.  If we all make this our belief, we can make the world a much better place.  We can feel good about ourselves and help others through life.   We all need help sometimes, so if everyone had a giving heart, there would always be someone willing to help in times of need.  Don’t be greedy.  This will only cause you to yearn for gifts instead of helping others, which is the prominent thing to do.  Nothing positive comes from greed.  Set a goal to help others anytime possible. This will lead to great rewards like a positive self-esteem, a good reputation, and helping less fortunate people survive. As Booker T. Washington stated, “If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.”   Trust me. The gift of giving will be a gift to remember.