Receiving Equals Giving

Every time you ask for help or allow yourself to receive (be it emotional or physical support, money, gifts or any other forms of help), you are simultaneously giving to others.

One day, on an impromptu solo hiking trip in Taiwan, I made some older Taiwanese friends. One of them, an avid hiker in his sixties, gave me tips for spots to visit in central Taiwan. I decided to stay in the area and explore less-known locations, like 大尖山, a mountain you can hike to from an indigenous village through tea plantations.

Unfortunately, relying on public transportation to reach such destinations is not the most convenient way to go about things. I caught a bus which took me to a small village where I was supposed to catch another bus which would bring me to the final destination.

When I found out that the connection wasn’t coming for another 30min, I decided to try hitchhiking, which I had done before but never in Taiwan.

Soon enough, a lady stopped, asking where exactly she should take me. I had looked at the map and since there seemed to be only one big road and not that many other directions to go to, I assumed she would be traveling in my direction. When I realized my destination wasn‘t on her way, I started feeling really bad. I told her I wouldn’t inconvenience her and would just wait for the bus!

However, she insisted on taking me. Eventually, I got on the car feeling pretty bad for bothering this poor lady.

The journey took perhaps 20 min. Naturally, she was curious and so I shared my story, experiences, worldviews. Where was I from, why was I in Taiwan, how much have I traveled, who and what was motivating and financing my travels and adventures, what made me want to leave my country and travel, how did I have all this courage and strength to pack my bags and just leave and then to just freely move around and solo travel around a faraway foreign country?!

She was amazed - she had never left the country because she got married and had children very young. She had regrets about that. She asked me how to travel cheaply so I shared all my best tips I only could in the short amount of time we had together. She said she would tell her three children all about the encounter as soon as she’d get home and encourage them to not marry early like herself, but instead, learn English, dream, and go explore the world first!

She also shared with me that she had never spoken to a foreigner in her whole life until now! She never left her country and didn't speak English so there never was an opportunity - until a Chinese speaking foreigner got into her car!

When we arrived to my destination, she insisted she‘d show me the way - she even paid for parking to be able to show me, which wasn't all that cheap! She then asked me very politely if we could take a picture, shook my hand, and thanked ME wholeheartedly for getting in her car!

As she left, I remained staying there in bewilderment for a second.

Could it be that, just like that, by inconveniencing some random stranger to very literally get out of their way and give me a ride, I might have just inspired and changed the life trajectories of an entire family, perhaps even an entire village?

There is an extremely powerful lesson I learned from this beautiful encounter:

Every time you allow someone to help you, you are participating in an energetic exchange. You may never find out what the other party will be taking away from the exchange; but I can guarantee you, they won’t be leaving empty-handed. Maybe they love helping/sharing. Maybe sharing love and resource with others is how they get to fill themselves with love and resource. Maybe it makes them feel needed and useful and that's the one thing they needed to feel today. Maybe they could really use some company or a keen ear to hear their story. And maybe they just had to meet you, because your wisdom, experience, joy, lust for life, energy, vibrancy or your pure essence and energetic transmission is that activation code that is going to unlock something in them and change the way they are and the trajectory of their life forever.

Learn how to receive; and learn how to receive without guilt. Because every time you open yourself up to receiving, you are also opening yourself up to sharing.

A few pictures from that gorgeous day trip hiking among tea plantations in 大尖山 below.