“Sharing is caring”, may seem like one the world’s most cliché adage.  (Time is gold tops it.) We hear it almost every day of our life. We know that we ought to help one another. We ought to share our blessing. We know that we ought to help without expecting anything in return.

But why is it so hard to do?

Last Sunday, July 10, 2016, my husband and I attended the mass. The sermon that father gave was about Sharing. He spoke about sharing your time, talent and treasure. This concept is not new to me. I have always loved helping people. When I was younger, I would go up the mountains, to far-flung places even, just to help our less fortunate brothers and sisters through teaching them or to simply just giving them small gifts. The children in the area cannot go to school because the nearest one is about 3 hours walk from their area and mind you, the way there is not easy. You have to cross mountains, walk through slippery slopes and even walk through a bridge made of two bamboo trees/stems tied together.

Every time I go to those areas, I feel like I was always hanging for dear life. Apart from those far-flung areas, I have been to areas where armed rebels have devastated so the chances of them coming back is not remote and, ‘lo and behold,it did happen once or twice. I know it is dangerous, I know it is tiring but there is always something that pulls me back every time I feel like I can not do it anymore.

At first, I thought it was my love for the children that motivates me. Seeing them smile made me really happy but while listening to the sermon last Sunday, I realized it was not just their smile that motivated me. It was the joy of giving that was filling me. The happiness that I felt seeing the kids smile and knowing that I have been an instrument of the happiness that they feel overwhelmed me. It feels so good to know that even though I was just doing a small thing, it made them glad and it mattered to them.

However, when we (my husband and I) moved here in Denmark, I felt like it is hard to share our treasure with other people. Honestly, my husband and I are not rich. We live a comfortable life but we are not rich. Apart from that, Denmark is a very expensive country! As much as we want to give to the less fortunate, financial constraints limit the help we can give. We are not complaining, though. We know that we are really lucky and we are so blessed to be living the life that we have. And since we feel really blessed, we want to pass it forward. We want to help others who are in need and share our blessings.

So my husband and I thought of ways to help others without the thought of financial constraints limit us. We accepted the fact that we cannot share TREASURE as much as we want so we focused on sharing our TIME and TALENT.

How did we do it? 

Simple. When we have friends who ask us for help in moving heavy things in their unit, we go and help. We offer our time to look after their kids if they are busy. We spend time with them and just do nothing but listen if they are going through tough times. When they are celebrating a milestone in their life, my husband volunteers as photographer/videographer and me as host/emcee. No buts, no excuses. Expecting nothing in return.

I know what these are just little things but it does not matter. What matters to my husband and I is that we are doing it from the heart. We just want to help, and if these are just what we can do, then be it. At the end of the day, it is always the thought that counts.

Photo credit: cogdogblog via Foter.com / CC BY