I used to think that giving should be expensive and extravagant.

It will require a lot of

time, effort, work, and money. In short, I thought that giving was only for the
wealthy. Given the fact that I was only enrolled in a local college with few funds and
resources, I was barely surviving with little money. I never thought that I could help
in conducting this program that helps not only one person but a group of people,
especially children.

It was nice being able to help. Looking back, when I was younger, whenever I gave
alms to street children, I used to feel guilt. I feel guilty because I know that the money
I have is not even from my own pockets. It was the work of my parents. I used to feel
guilty because I knew the money I had was not even enough for our expenses, yet I
gave. I used to feel guilty because I could only afford to give them 5 to 10 pesos as a
maximum, which I knew was not enough to buy them a meal. So it was nice that I
was able to help without feeling guilty because I know that what I give comes from
my heart with my own hands and effort. I am sharing with them food, clothes, and
knowledge without having to feel guilty or sad, but only happiness.

Giving was not expensive. I am learning that to make someone happy, it will not cost
you a lot. You do not need to buy them brand new clothes and other things.
Sometimes giving is not about the things or the price; it is about the desire. You can
help without having to spend a large amount of money. Sometimes talking to them
and making them notice is already a way of giving. It was a form of giving because
you were giving them love and care, which most of them lack. Not everyone can talk
to street children; not everyone can even touch them. So when I talked to them, I felt
happy because I knew that I was giving them the highest form of gift: love.

Giving is a blessing. Sometimes we think that when we give, we will lose money,
time, and resources. When we give, we are transferring something, right? So most of
the time, what we give is what we lose. When we give them money, we will lose
money. When we have 5 breads and we give them 2 breads, we will only be left with
3 breads. But I realized that when we give, we never lose anything because we gain
something in return. When we give with pure intention, we will never feel that we
have lost something, but we will gain more in return. We gain happiness, and we gain
love. How great is it to help someone? How happy and lovely is it to see a smile from
the person you are helping?

Giving is already a form of gift. I realized that giving is already a form of gift because
we cannot give something we do not have. We cannot give love if we do not have it
within ourselves. We cannot give empathy if we do not have empathy within
ourselves. And we cannot give care if we do not first care for ourselves. We cannot
give them anything we do not have. So when we give them money, it means we have
money. When we give them clothes, it means we have clothes. If we give them food,
it means we have food. So I realized I was also gifted. I was more gifted by them
because I was able to share something with them. So there was no regret about giving,
because giving itself is already a gift.

The price of the clothes, the price of the meal, and the price of the money that we give
may not be large and expensive. The meal that we give them may not be able to feed
them for a lifetime, and the clothes may be old and faded. But it will never be the one
that is measured. It will never be measured by how beautiful and expensive the
clothes are that you give. Nonetheless, the money you spend What will always matter
is that you give with pure intention. You give with your heart. We may be out of
money, but not of desire and commitment to help other people. Our personal and
financial situations may hinder us from helping people, but if we really desire to help,
there will never be circumstances that will stop us because a heart of giving will
always find its way to help, no matter how small, no matter how far, or no matter how
little.