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What is the reason for our remaining alive? For what have we come here? Day after day we are being asked about the sense and purpose of our lives. And many of us keep on searching for answers. Will we be able to achieve happiness? That is also a question that forces us every day to find out its answer. What happens if the answer to those queries is quite uncomplicated? What if it is all about ONE thing? Bonding. The secret of happiness is explained perfectly in the stimulating voice of Masami Sato in the excerpt of her book, ONE.

What are we trying to find out?

There are many things we do in our life.

But have we ever thought about why we do what we do? What are we really looking for?

The world now is full of billions of us coming from different races, countries, religions and beliefs all doing different things. We all look different and act quite differently. We have different interest and attitude from others. We communicate differently often using different languages. We have different desire and feelings.

However, if we were to say there is just ONE thing we are ALL looking for, what would it be?

As I travelled around the world, I often asked people a simple question, “What would you like to achieve in your life? What do you really want?”

At first, it seemed everyone was looking for different things as they randomly said, “Good job”, “My own house”, “A nice partner”, “A loving family”, “A soul mate”, “More money”, “Wealth”. “Freedom”, “Peace of mind”, “A life purpose” There were many more answers.

I did notice that some of these requirements were of a more earthly nature while others were of a permanent nature. Earthly desires are those that we want because we do not yet have it, or think that we do not yet have it. As against this, permanent desires are not about getting things we do not have. It is about a ‘feeling’ that we yearn for, so that it does not come to an end, whatever we get or accomplish at every moment or our lives.

If we removed all the temporal desires from out list and only looked at the permanent desires, it is so obvious that we simply want to continue feeling positive feelings like excitement, enjoyment, inspiration, motivation, generosity, love, joy etc.-in another way, we want to stay being happy.

Happiness

Contentment is a state of emotion that all of us are yearning to be in. Each of us may define it differently. We may also value it differently. Each of us may be familiar with different levels of intensity of contentment. Still we definitely have something in common when contentment comes to us. And when we realize this secret about contentment, we hold the key to greater contentment, and to make those around us know the same feelings as well.

Life is a mystery we are all living in. We all may love it in our own special ways. We may despise it in different ways. We may question it. We may treasure it. Or we may just have it, accept it, indifferently. But what is the purpose of our lives? What if the secret of our existence is so near? What if the secret actually brings us happiness and contentment when we discover it?

What if the truth of our life’s purpose, and of its happiness, is as simple as this:

It is all about bonding.

Relationship is everything

Everything depends on bonding. All things are part of some other things. A look at our own lives would say it all. Then we will begin to see the real purpose of life.

Why do we do anything, ANYTHING at all, in life as humans?

It is mainly because we want to bond more and more. We make fiends to feel bonded. We get married for bonding with another person in a firm and lasting manner. We raise a family to feel even more bonded. We go out and meet people to bond well with them, not only for getting advantages out of that bonding, but also to feel more bound to the world.

We buy good clothes or go to a hairdressing saloon for a better relationship with our aesthetical sense and to our own physical appearance. We eat all types of food to feel more connected to the sense of taste and flavour. We eat out to feel the relationship to the people we dine with. We get mobile phones and computers to weave relationships with others and the world. We read magazines and newspapers to remain in touch with whatever is going on and what others are doing and experiencing. We educate ourselves to keep in touch with what others know and value.

All that we do is done to satisfy the need for that bonding. If we have no bonds with our own body, we do not even need to sleep or eat. Our bonds to all our senses tell us to do certain things to satisfy the demands that the body makes. If we disregard these pleas of our body, we feel pain and discomfort. And over and above our basic needs, we search for a bonding of a loftier type – the bonding to our existence – the bonding to our purpose. And without those bonds, it is just bare. Just like the barrenness many of us feel within when we have no bonds even to ourselves. It is just not the right way we are supposed to live our lives.

Bonds are powerful, and yet they are fragile and tender

When we can’t feel the sense of connection in a relationship, we go for separation, divorce, arguments, judgment and resentment. It never feels good to feel disconnected. But we could even feel in love with someone one day and feel totally remote and resentful toward that same person the next day. The feeling can change just by a flick of a finger. And it could be your finger or theirs!

When the relationship is not there.

When we do not feel the connection, we start seeing problems. We start seeing differences and barriers. We start judging and criticising others. We magnify, dwell on and give energy to those things we perceive as problems. When that happens, we could even turn it all inwards and give ourselves pain and criticism. We cannot feel totally happy when we’re feeling disconnected from even one thing.

Relationship: the Secret to Happiness

What if we choose to perceive the entire thing in reverse? When we do that we understand this simple truth: we cannot feel despondent when we are in a strong relationship. It is simply not possible!

Try to feel grouchy when we have a good relationship with the people around us and smiling and sharing things completely. Even when we have ‘problems’ in life, we can still smile together and feel delighted when we are bound together in a good relationship. At the same time, it is hard to be happy if we do not have that edifying relationship.

Bonding: Our Life

Relationship is the core of everything. That is what life is. Relationship.

Things are just a combination of smaller parts. Things connect together to form a greater whole; the way our bodies are collections of smaller units, cells, organs, molecules and atoms.

Our acts and options also is an expression of the need for a relationship. We are meant to continuously find out ways to relate to each other and to a higher objective.

Relationship and Religion

Some of us have opted to become a part of different religious systems to feel better related to each other. The relationship that we yearn to build could be to God. It could be to those who share the same belief system. When there is the sharing of a similar conviction, there is a stronger relationship within that group. More bestowing on each other takes place among people who feel related to each other.

Bonding and Business

People start a business to feel a stronger relationship to themselves by having better mastery over their destiny. But quite often in the world of entrepreneurship, there is a greater sense of isolation especially when we start seeing other enterprises as rivals, staff as devices and customers as a source of income. With all that, the main reason for getting into the business was to establish a relationship. So why should we cause any secluding at all? Maybe in an ideal world, all enterprises worked in another way, but jointly.

Bonding and Wars

Some of us even give rise to polemics or battles to enjoy a sense of ‘success’ or maybe a greater feeling of assurance and self-worth. But this only boomerangs. The moment we are ‘successful’ in the battle, we are really severing the bonds with others. We are now in need of more confidence to safeguard ourselves from being assailed by others. The result is that we become more vulnerable and frightened. We cannot treat this as a joke because it actually happens to each one of us in diverse ways.

It may be the differences of opinion we have with people around us. It may be the wrong conclusions we reach at when we decide another person is wrong. When we want to be the only person to triumph, it will not be a victory in the true sense of the word – there would be no bonding. We can only rejoice when we succeed in unison. Then we feel the strong bond.

No matter how differently we express our needs, everything we do is to fulfil the mere desire we have to feel and be connected.

The real sense of connection comes only through our heart. We can connect with anybody when we are truly caring for them and feeling connected with them. If we know this, creating the desired state is actually simple, easy and fun. Then we would naturally experience more happiness and joy.

Life is just like a game. We experience things and do things in a game but fundamentally, the aim of any game is to enjoy. It is not about doing things or having things. When the game finally ends, the winners are only the ones who enjoyed the game. Not the ones who had more at the end. The results and outcomes of a game we play don’t affect our true life. But if we lost all our friends to play with during a game just because we wanted to be the winner in this round, would it lead us to the real winning game?

It is easy to comprehend this when compared to acting in a play, but we often fail to understand it while enacting the play of life. We do not remember that life is also a play.

Even if we don’t know when this game actually started and when it would end, we know that it somehow started in the past and it will end someday. When we close the lid of the game box eventually one day, can we simply say, “Wow, it was so much fun. Let’s play again!”

In the sports of life, the aim of the game is to establish a relationship. We can keep connecting until we all unite to become one. It is the one way to constantly feel the relationship to our objective – the feeling of pleasure and delight. We cannot feel detached from the relationship to anything or refuse and conclude even one thing if we are to achieve a lasting relationship.

Life is as easy as that. There is only ONE secret.

And the secret is to establish a relationship.

To turn into ONE

To relish.

Discover more about how Buy1GIVE1 (BOGO) can transform your business using Cause Marketing.

Charity ratings are highly unpredictable with highly appraised top ranking charities being overtaken by new charities that suddenly make their appearance in the horizon. Charity Water is a rather new but typical example of this. Innovativeness and the all-powerful Internet are causing charity ratings of brand new charities to skyrocket. A charity that could be relatively unknown today might get rated as the best the next day by the New York Times. And then the rating of that charity might shoot up from nowhere to the top of the chart within the matter of a single day.

Because the general public are swayed so much by the charity ratings the press and media give, a brand new charity can flourish very quickly with a flood of charitable giving being thrown its way. And of course when the media lose interest, then the charity rating can drop out of the sky overnight.

Charity rating directory listings

With cynicism a bit on the higher side and eagle eyed guardians of charity practices ever on the lookout for malpractices, with huge amounts of money spent on managing or misuse of funds, directory listings of charity ratings are having a field day. It is rather strange that altruistic organizations, the purpose of which is to give others, themselves come under the scrutiny of guardians of ethics. Altruism is becoming a knotty issue!

Givespot.com, Guidestar.org etc. are institutions that give a detailed list of charity ratings. The list of Givespot.com is known as GiveSpot 100 list, which gives a list of charities that are rated as the top 100. Then there are other institutions like charitynavigator.org which has a charity check systems and also gives a list of the Top Ten charities so that searching for a charity becomes easy. The biggest US charity directory is Guidestar.org and it offers a wide range of charity information some of which is available for free while some of the data require payment. In USA Better Business Bureau is also a charity directory that provides a list of non-profit institutions as well as commercial enterprises.

So if you want to find the 100 top charities then there are so many charity rating guides out there and yet maybe charity ratings are actually about something else. What makes a charity stand above the rest often has nothing to do with its ratings at all. There are special ingredients that make any charity or non-charity organisation successful.

Charity Ratings and belief in the public

A 2005 YouGov poll published that the majority of the British population – 56% – had only a ‘fair amount’ of trust in the global charities like Save the Children and Oxfam . Only 15% of the charities surveyed had ‘a great deal’ of trust – even in the ones that do well in charity ratings.

Charity Critics’ Warnings are profuse

People do not have faith in charities any more. They cannot be blamed for this state of affairs. Eagle eyed critics of charities complain about mismanagement in the field with high salaries for the staff and about 60% donations being spent on overheads for running the venture, leaving little for actual charity giving.

Recent analyses reveal that just the cost of raising funds could amount to about’% in UK and 20% in Australia. The studies of the Association of Fundraising Professionals in USA put the amount to be about 30%. Administrative expenses are in addition to this and could be higher. Many charity givers find that this is the main problem, more so when charity giving grabs media attention as was the case in Singapore a couple of years ago. Such unwelcome focus becomes conducive to a decrease in charity giving which is quite unpleasant.

Charity ratings secret revealed

There is not much difference in the way in which charity organizations and commercial organizations try to get money. How they eventually use that money may be different, but their modus operandi for attracting that money is essentially the same.

In order to get the funds necessary for functioning, as well as to improve the charity ratings, there is only one assured way – make it tempting.

When we see a thing and might prefer to buy it, or would consider putting money in it, or creating a bond with it, we are likely to make the decision based on how enticing the whole idea is. If it is a very attractive proposition, we might instantly choose to opt for it while if it is not very enticing, we may not do it immediately.

Charity Water was exceptionally successful in getting media backing and good charity rating because of their appealing idea. The scheme of charging a good price for a bottle of charity water, and using the profits thereof for getting clean water to areas where it was not available, was a fascinating idea that appealed to all.

The factors that make Charity Water quite fascinating and promote its rating are the following.

* First of all it has an ideal name, Charity Water, which strikes a chord in people’s heart. The person behind the idea was obviously passionate about the image and about taking it to the people.

* Their idea of the vocation and their message is lucid, plain and remarkable – sell water and give water – Buy One Give One

* Their focus was on how to solve the problem and not the problem itself. It is important for charities to properly define their focus if they want people to rate them highly. No one has interest in getting their attention turned to the unpleasant things in life. People want a positive focus. So when they are told that they can make a positive change in the lives of others by buying a bottle of water they feel happy.

How to let Charity Ratings plummet in a second

The fastest way for a charity to lose its rating is by making itself less appealing by concentrating on the problem. People are hardly inclined to listen about all that negativity going on in the world. On the other hand, most people are ready to listen to sagas of vigour, eagerness, drive and dedication to fashion a better world.

All we have to do is see ourselves with our own kids and understand how we easily answer in the affirmative when they request for things in an eager and happy and excited way. But when they prefer to make their demands in a peevish or weepy way, we may tend to refuse.

The images that a charity uses will affect its charity ratings. Using uplifting and inspiring images will uplift and inspire people. Uplifted and inspired people give more and spend more.

Social Enterprise raises Charity Ratings and reduces Fundraising Problems

A new business model emerged a few years ago called Social Enterprise . This in a way is a hybrid mix between a charity and a business. Some entrepreneurs want to tackle social issues but they do not find the charity model effective or attractive enough.

Many socially conscious businessmen may find the ambiance of a full fledged commercial venture and its decision making mechanism unpalatable. For such people a social enterprise is an apt field where they can use their business acumen and inspiration effectively to solve social problems and usher in changes. One of the best known among such socially aware entrepreneurs is Muhammad Yunus who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. He was the first business man to be given such recognition.

A comparatively new global social venture, Buy1GIVE1, also known as B1G1 (Buy 1 Give 1), combines commercial activities with noble causes and charity organisations across the globe. Buy1GIVE1 has reduced the costs of administration and fundraising so completely that it is able to give away the whole of the funds it gets. It functions in a way quite similar to online enterprises like Kiva.org, which has been given support by Bill Clinton; Buy1GIVE1 is a substitute for the conventional style of direct giving to charities. Lots of people find them a more practical way for making donations while receiving valuable things in return.

Business leaders who are looking for opportunities to give back in effective ways and give to worthy charitable causes, see the great value and well-defined key Marketing advantages businesses like Buy1GIVE1 offer. Each sales transaction makes a difference – and not just in an altruistic sense. With powerful ‘impact-matching’, businesses are gifted with an eye-opening, attention-grabbing marketing story. Compare the business that gives away a million dollars to charity with the one that lets their customers experience the joy of giving with Buy1Give1 transaction-based giving.

Enterprises like Buy1GIVE1 provide details of charity requirements, especially those which are really needy causes, and these always manage to attract lots of donations. Entrepreneurs understand very well the fundamentals of these equations and so are more likely to help such causes rather than worry about the charity rating. They know very well that people have an inherent tendency to respond to a more touching requirement, than simply to media rating.

Maple Muesli in Australia has partnered with Midday Meals in Mumbai, India. With every bag of muesli bought, a hungry child in India is fed. Midday Meals is a charity that feeds 125,000 Mumbai children every day for just US 30 cents per meal. The meals are provided in schools to keep kids off the streets and encourage learning while reducing begging and child abuse.

Maple Muesli has familiarised the whole of Australia with the noble cause of the Midday Meals. The company has made all its customers aware of the stupendous service the charity is doing and how their money is helping it. This has made Midday Meals tremendously popular even though all they are doing is providing meals for the kids. The era of Effective Giving has dawned – that of Plain Charity Donations is disappearing at the horizon.

In a matter of a few years, changes are bound to happen in the background of the top 100 charities as more inventive and effectual ways of giving originate. The current scenario offers very few choices on how to give for a charitable purpose. All the available ones are not good enough to make a dent in the existing problems.

Alternative Charity Ratings

Some of the new and different ways to give are highlighted and rated in the table below. Charity Comparison Points

We have compared and rated a few well-known and less well-known charities and Social Enterprises on areas that are important to their donors.

THE SALVATION ARMY

WAY TO GIVING: DIRECT GIVING

One of the Top 100 charities in the world – The Salvation Army is a charity that individuals and businesses often donate to directly.

TRANSPARENCY – B – Lack of transparency – Sum of money is contributed – but result is not fully measurable.

BENEFIT FOR THE BUSINESS – C – Contribution to Salvation Army gets mention in the press even if it is a one time contribution.

FUNDRAISING COSTS – B – Spends millions of dollars annually to raise funds.

CONTRIBUTORS’CHOICE OF CHARITY – B – For direct giving, you can have a lot of charities to check out before settling which one is best.

PROMISE FOR GLOBAL CHANGE -C- No potential noticed for bringing about a market change.

PRODUCT (RED)

ROUTE TO GIVING: MARKETING CAMPAIGN

Product (RED) is a brand that enters into partnership with companies, which then creates products with its logo, a percentage of which goes to fighting AIDS, TB and Malaria in Africa.

CANDOUR – B – Insufficient candour – Lots of money is donated – but result is not completely quantifiable.

BENEFIT FOR THE BUSINESS – A – Popular among business ventures as well as people as it is supported by charismatic personnel like Bono and Oprah Winfrey. Marketing results are however not fully traceable.

COSTS OF FUNDRAISING – C -Simply splurges money on advertising – it would be far better if that money is sent directly to Africa.

CONTRIBUTORS’CHOICE OF CHARITY – C – Partner businesses do not have much choice in the charities that receive their contributions – all are in Africa.

POTENTIAL FOR REAL GLOBAL CHANGE – B – Products (RED) only partner huge companies and all their profits go to Africa.

THE BODY SHOP

WAY TO GIVING: BUSINESS TRADE & GIVING

The Body Shop engages in community trade helping Third World countries; and makes huge donations to charities from their profits.

CANDOUR – B – Insufficient candour – Lots of money is donated – but result is not completely quantifiable.

ADVANTAGE TO BUSINESS – A-tve – Clients are by and large happy to become part of the community trade and are encouraged to buy more – the enterprise could afford to be more visible.

FUNDRAISING COSTS – A – Lower costs – Successful business model that makes donations and boosts community trade.

DONORS’ CHOICE POTENTIALS – A – Ventures that donate has the option to decide in what way their donations are to be used.

POTENTIAL FOR REAL GLOBAL CHANGE – B – Businesses’ giving back is great – but very few take the added effort to push for change like Body Shop.

LIVE EARTH

ROUTE TO GIVING: EVENT FUNDRAISING

Live Earth consisted of a string of global musical programmes which set in motion a three-year campaign to battle climate change and was held on July 7, 2007.

TRANSPARENCY – F – According to Intelligent Giving, there were big questions about accountability as to where the proceeds of ticket sales went.

BENEFIT FOR THE BUSINESS – B – It was beneficial to business sponsors as they got good media coverage, but as it was a single event results are not easily measurable.

COSTS OF FUNDRAISING – C – Huge amounts were spent on advertising and according to some the whole event was a damp squib without any actual goals.

CONTRIBUTORS’CHOICE OF CHARITY – C – Only three charities received funds.

ABILITY FOR EFFECTING A CHANGE – C – Occasions like this can be managed only yearly or may be still rarely. The earnings are mostly donated to charities that are already established.

Buy1GIVE1 (B1G1)

ROUTE TO GIVING: SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

B1G1 is a brand licensed to form a partnership with any business – connecting them with any worthy cause in any place. A truly universal precept.

TRANSPARENCY – A – One for one giving ensures funds given are used for what they were intended. Customers know their giving translates into real change (e.g. numbers of trees planted, numbers of children fed).

BENEFIT FOR THE BUSINESS – A+tve – Superb marketing value as a result of:

* Measurable giving * Media attraction * Good stories * Word of mouth * Repeat customers

COSTS OF FUNDRAISING – A+tve – Absolutely no cost – B1G1 can oversee a charity’s needs for raising funds and also manage much of the administration as well. So the funds go entirely to the charity.

DONORS’ CHOICE POTENTIALS – A – Businesses have the option of choosing a particular project to donate to, or give to a worthy cause of their choice like feeding, knowledge training etc.

PROMISE FOR GLOBAL CHANGE – A – Unlimited. If more and more businesses can collaborate with charities internationally, the prospects for real change is colossal.

You Would Think Giving away Money Would Be Easy!”

Donating money may not seem to be a difficult job – it is just a question of handing over some money as cheque, cash or via the credit card. Still, someone like George Sores, who is as generous a donor as could be, agrees that effectual giving is no cakewalk. Underprivileged communities and countries receive millions of dollars in aid and still the situation remains much the same year after year.

People asking smarter questions will bring about the needed change. Social Entrepreneurs like Mohamed Yunis, Nobel Prize winner, creating innovative solutions to poverty and environmental issues with Micro Finance are carving the way to a new future where business initiatives, social enterprise and conscious consumerism transform our world. Initiatives like The Body Shop’s ‘Trade – Not Aid’ need to be replicated. New ideas like Buy1GIVE1 need to be embraced. The value of social enterprise needs to be recognised.

Bill Gates, when asked how one can make a difference in the world, pointed to the Internet. Kiva.org and Buy1GIVE1 (www.b1g1.com) are organisations that add value to the giver. With Kiva.org, people can receive email journal updates from the business they have sponsored. This happens with Buy1GIVE1 as well. Businesses also get the added benefit of marketing stories to tell their customers: buy a laptop with us, and we give one computer to someone who cannot afford it.

Next steps to increasing your Charity Ratings

Adopt a questioning mind, hop onto a wired laptop, and with a few hours to spare look at some of the new and amazing giving systems that are being created. Most of these new systems are network based and driven from the Internet.

The present situation is that if a venture is not allied online with global networks of good standing, it stands to lose quite a lot whatever its charity rating is, by tomorrow things are likely to change — completely.

There are more and more examples these days of companies rising up from nothing and being sold three years later for over a billion dollars. This was unheard of ten years ago. Today this is becoming a regular occurrence. All these new Internet companies are doing one thing – tapping into global networks or creating global networks.

Buy1GIVE1 (Buy One Give One)

Buy1GIVE1 is a relatively new Social Enterprise founded by a Japanese lady called Masami Sato in’97. Today any business anywhere in the world can be a Buy1GIVE1 member, with membership for small businesses only costing $1 per day and contributions starting from just 1c per sale. Buy1GIVE1 is leading the Buy One Give One transaction-based giving global movement. Working with Buy1GIVE1 is easy for a charity worthy cause or a business. Their model is unique, flexible and inspiring. A business simply marries any or all of its products or services with a charity project (Buy1GIVE1′s or their own) and then every time they sell something record the sale and pay their contribution each month or quarter direct to their cause or through Buy1GIVE1.

You could be losing out a lot if you are not interested in forming an association with Buy1GIVE1and not persuading your business patrons to do so. Buy1GIVE1 is a unique and brilliant organisation whose impetus as well as global impact is huge.

A new epoch in charity giving

Institutions that no one had heard about even a few months ago, are today bombarding the cyber world with booming user acceptance. People strongly prefer have a place on sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube, NING or TipJoy. One should also create strong bonds with companies like Buy1GIVE1, Kiva or The Present. These are the realities of the future which are imperative for sustaining and building charity ratings. Now is the chance to fashion an ideal new future.

Discover more about how Buy1GIVE1 (BOGO) can transform your business using Cause Marketing.

A new development is revolutionizing many lives in the hamlets of India by bringing brightness where there used to be blackness.

The New York Times published a piece named, “Husk Power for India”. Power, which is common in the lives of most in advanced countries, is a rare bonus in far-flung areas of underdeveloped countries. What was once cattle feed is now used to generate power – rice husks.

Raised in the rural state of Bihar, Manoj Sinha understood what it was like to sit in darkness. Being an engineer with Intel Corporation he had all the ability to bring alive the dream of a lifetime. He led the advancement of his power equipment that produces electricity from rice husks and other farm wastes and now he trades it to hamlets across India.

Sinha is what could be called a reformative businessman because he feels business is the answer to major social problems. “Business leaders must realise that the world’s poor need investments more than handouts,” he says, adding, “these are customers, not victims.”

The article inspired me to think about giving in a different way leading me to ask myself, “what is the most effective form of giving?” Is it education, commercial activity or disaster relief? There are so many ways to make a difference. One way of giving can seem more effective or sustainable than other ways depending on the way it is expressed, looked at or implemented.

I then came to delineate there were eight segments to giving as a way to see this. So, let me chart out the eight differences; which in effect are often ‘stages’ of giving as well.

Phase one: Exigency – salvaging and helping others who are suffering due to natural calamities, epidemic diseases or other insurmountable problems.

Stage two: Reprieve – providing reprieve from long-standing malnutrition, penury, illnesses, handicaps or inequity which otherwise would prolong or get worsened because of the lack of perception, edification or resources.

Stage three: Remedying and defense – internally, bodily and psychologically. Many people carry injuries that may be invisible but could be severely confining their lives. Giving the remedy to release the buried trauma creates better facilities for them while giving proper protection gives them a sense of defense.

Stage four: Education – giving better education, information and skill training to create empowered and creative solutions to resource generation while supporting individuals to discover their unique talent to thrive.

Phase five: Innovative investment – giving a helping hand, cash or material to those who have the ability to make a change. This gets weighed many times as the materials increase and is passed on to several others who again create more out of the chances given.

Stage six: Sustainability – working together involving the people in the local environment, creating sustainable community – environmentally and socially.

Stage seven: Empowerment – sanctioning and influencing the people to set free their true capability and drive to make a difference. In this group of offering, the aim of offering changes from ‘giving to those who are in need’ to ‘giving people an opening to give to others’ and to the whole group.

Phase eight: Caring – just doing whatever we want to do to cherish and care for others. No tactic or expected result exists in this phase of giving. ‘Giving’ does not even exist here in the conventional sense of the word, as there is no sense of ownership or reasoning or yearning to alter anything. This is where we do not even have to worry about anything, we give as a part of our own delightful sense of being.

What we also see is that at each of these eight phases of sharing there are many things that the giver gets in return.

One: Sense of bonding

Two: Sense of contentment

Three: reprieve from ache (our own)

Four: Thankfulness for our own ideas, gifts and conditions

Five: Long-term sense of contribution and satisfaction for our own life

Six: Better ambiance for our own life and for the lives of others we treasure and revere

Seven: Soul rewarding stimulation and commitment to our own purpose

Eight: Affection

Giving has many levels and experiences depending on the giver and the receiver. And the ‘stages’ do not describe which one is more important than the other. All are necessary.

I was lucky to have an experience early in 2008 while journeying with a group of devoted entrepreneurs across India to see how we could be more productive in our helping. I was particularly happy to have one outstanding encounter that led me to think about what ‘actual giving’ really meant.

We were in a little town one day. Four of us had just booked a taxi to take us to another town nearby. We negotiated with the driver carefully as our hotel staff had warned us in advance about the rip-off we might experience seeing we were not local.

We chose to stop in front of the local train station for a short interval en route to the town. While the others went to use restrooms, I struck up a conversation with the driver of the taxi, standing nearby. With his limited English vocabulary and a smiling face that showed his black front teeth to advantage, he told me that he lived in the outskirts of the town and that he had a young wife and two kids who attended the local school – I began to feel a relationship with him.

I congratulated him on having such a loving family and told him that I also had two children similar ages to his. When the others returned he spontaneously invited us to come to his house for lunch. I thought it was just a friendly courtesy he wanted to show at first. However, after dropping us off in the town centre, he insisted that he would wait for us until we finished our exploration in town. And he did. I was actually quite surprised to see him still waiting at the side of the road standing next to his taxi more than hour later. We jumped back into the taxi and he zoomed off up the road to where his family lived.

When we reached there we were really quite taken aback to see how he was living. It was more or less similar (if not worse) to the standard of people dwelling in slums we had visited before. From the gleaming new taxi he was driving, who could have thought this

As he reached the narrow open street in between shanties that were made with rough concrete blocks and mud walls, we felt guilty about accepting his invitation. For a brief moment I was nonplussed. “How could I accept the hospitality of this man who didn’t seem to have anything at all and I didn’t even bring any gift that could be a help to his family”, I told myself.

As we walked into his house, we saw a pan and small stove on the mud floor. His very shy wife nodded blushing in surprise and disappeared into the small storeroom (a cupboard size) next to it. As I looked in, I saw the next-door neighbours handing over some teacups to his wife over the crumbled concrete fence. They didn’t even have extra teacups in their house. There was only one small room fitted out with one single bed and an old galvanised chest next to it.

The cab driver swiftly took out three hand-woven rugs from the galvanised box and placed it neatly on the small space of the mud floor keeping one on the bed.

Soon the cups of tea and some snacks arrived. All his children and children from the neighborhood came to see us and stood in the doorway. All six of us were totally squashed in the tiny room. I curiously asked him where all his children were sleeping. I thought they probably had another space somewhere. To my surprise, he cheerfully pointed the chest and said it was their bed with his beaming smile.

He cheerfully informed us that he was a dancing expert of the area and pointed at the medals displayed on the recess above his bed. Bent on showing us his dancing skills he at once ran outside. From some place music started coming into the tiny room. He has no arrangement for music in the house, it was flowing in from outside. I wondered where it came from till I saw him bringing his taxi in reverse to the back wall of his house with the doors open and music flowing in from the high volume car radio!

The time quickly passed (dancing together and having more cups of tea) and it was finally time to say thank you for their great hospitality and head on our way. As we stood up to leave and thank him and his wife, he reached to the best looking rug on the bed, rolled it up and handed it to us. It was one of the only few things he had. I could not believe he offered it to us.

We all politely declined his gift and walked out saying goodbye to all the people waving at us. We got confused about this whole thing. Should we have given some money to the family as their life obviously looked very limited? Should we have accepted his prized gift?

As I was thinking about this awe-inspiring experience after a few days, I considered our begging off his gift. He looked crest-fallen that we didn’t accept the gift. It wasn’t only the rejecting of the gift that remained in my mind.

I understood that the sense of unease I felt was really ensuing from viewing him as unfortunate. I was perhaps thinking that I couldn’t possibly accept something from a person who had very little.

But did he really have so little? Maybe he had more – a lot more.

Maybe the perfect gift we could have given him then was to accept his gift in total surrender and gratefulness.

All actions of gifting and getting are essential for us to fill our world with plenty and contentment equally for both giver and getter. We can begin doing this instead of assessing and defending one over the other. The perfect act of gifting and getting needs no further clarification.

Manoj Sinha’s words continue to reverberate in my mind, “these are customers, not victims.” I can picture the happy faces of the rural folk who are now pleased to have power in their hamlets and the kids who now can read books and happily do their homework at night.

Discover more about how Buy1GIVE1 (BOGO) can transform your business using Cause Marketing.

Definitions of words often change quite quickly these days. In the distant past the meaning of words was often set in stone. Today the meaning can change in a blink. With new faster ways to communicate with wider and more culturally, socially and education

There is a growing global movement where consumers are asking businesses to take care of the things that they care about. The request is mainly tacit and despite it being an ironic request it non-the-less signals that we are in a time of change. Consumers these days want their ‘goodies’ but they don’t want the environment to be destroyed in the creation of their ‘goodies’. They want cheap products but they do not want workers to suffer to create those cheap products.

Until recently there was no real answer to this complex puzzle but today one actually exists. It exists in the reforging of a simple single word – GET. Today there is a new movement of consumers wanting to get and at the same time give. They are reforging the word GET into the word GIVE.

Every day I receive a notice from Google Alerts for two words – B1G1 and BOGO. It tells me all the new places that these words are being used on the Internet. I can now see that the new meaning of these words is coming alive ‘poco a poco’ [Italian: poco, little + a, by + poco, little].

B1G1 and BOGO, despite sounding like characters from a Marvel comic are acronyms for Buy One GET One free. You buy one and they give you an extra one for the same price.

If you look on Wikipedia you will find these definitions for BOGO (there isn’t a definition yet for B1G1 – there will be soon when I write one!):

* An acronym in the retail industry that stands for Buy One Get One. For example, you could say “Buy 1 DVD, Get 1 FREE!

* An acronym in slang British that stands for Britons Of Greek Origin or Greek Britons.

* Bogo, Cebu, a city in central Philippines.

* An alternate name for the Bilen ethnic group of Ethiopia or their language, Blin.

* An alternate name for the Bilen ethnic group of Ethiopia or their language, Blin.

* The mascot of the ITESM CEM.

* BogoMips, an unscientific measurement of CPU speed

* Bogosort, an ineffective sorting algorithm

BOGO Lights – torches that give

There is an organisation in the USA called SunLight Solar founded by a gentleman called Mark Bent. He has created a special torch that not only is an amazing and robust solar-powered light; his company also gives a free torch to a family in need in developing nations for each one purchased. If you look on their website you will learn about their “BOGOlight”.

“The BoGo – our Buy one/Give one – program has successfully provided lights to many, many thousands of people in the developing world, changing lives because of your purchase and participation.” – BOGOlight.com

Mark Bent has flipped the BOGO acronym upside down when he started to use the word as part of his product name. For him now and the thousands who buy his lights, BOGO today means Buy One GIVE One. Each person gets to give a light every time they buy one for themselves. So now with each sale people who do not have the benefit of electricity can tap the power of the sun to support them in their lives.

There are many other well known and less well know businesses now doing Buy One Give One giving or transactional giving as it is becoming known. Some of the famous ones are One-Laptop-Per-Child (OLPC) and TOM’S Shoes. Some of the less well-known ones (in the USA at least) are based in New Zealand, Australia and the UK – Earthstar Publishing, Maple Muesli, Blinds Couture, Figure 8 Body Chains, Sunsplash Homes, Honestly Women magazine and Thavibu Gallery based in Thailand are just a handful of special businesses that are heading the Buy One Give One movement.

There are many Buy One Give One businesses now uniting under the common brand banner of Buy1GIVE1 managed by a Singapore based social enterprise which is becoming the home of transaction-based giving. Any business in the world can now integrate Buy One Give One giving with ease. It’s like a ‘CSR plug-in’ allowing a business to instantaneously start giving from each and every sale, starting from just 1 cent. It’s also no longer about giving an equivalent product to someone else. Instead it is about contributing to a project that resonates with a company’s activity. For example a restaurant can feed a child, a television retailer can give a cataract blind person the gift of sight (Get Vision-Give Vision), a magazine publisher can plant a tree every time they sell a subscription and a property developer can build a low-cost family home for those in need (Buy1BUILD1) – the list is simply endless.

The stats now add up saying consumers do care. The 2008 Goodpurpose global study of consumer attitudes revealed that nearly a huge 68% of consumers would remain dedicated to a brand during an economic slump if it supported a charity cause. This study also highlighted some other key points as well such as:

* Half (52%) of consumers globally are more likely to recommend a brand to others when it supports a good charity cause over one that does not.

* and 54% would champion a brand to promote a product if there was a good cause behind it.

* Consumers are now voicing a clear desire for marketers to associate their brands to social causes. 42% say that if two products or services were of a similar quality and price, commitment to a cause outranks factors like innovation, design and brand loyalty when selecting one brand over another.

Turning Getting into Giving

The new concept of Buy One GIVE One is starting to replace Buy One GET One as the global giving movement led by Buy1GIVE1 ripples out. Right now if you search for the terms B1G1 and BOGO you will find that websites that do Buy1-Give1 giving are on the first page of Google results. Certainly with the large consumer demand shown for products from companies like TOMS Shoes, BOGO lights and OLPC – One Laptop Per Child, this tide is set to continue and spread.

I did a recent Google search to find the top 25 keywords associated with the keywords BOGO and B1G1. The results were interesting indeed seeing none of them contained the word Give. You can see the results below. It will be interested to repeat this experiment in 12 months time to see what changes. Consumers are now starting to drive significant change and despite them wanting to receive free gifts (as in traditional BOGO/B1G1), they equally want to help others and the environment. This feeling is validated by 2008′s Goodpurpose global study.

Here are the search results:

Free, networking, boots, groups, music, dallas, togo themes, wallpapers, buy, applications, skins, values, coupon, African, gift, photography, blogging, discount, sharing, shopping, pics, join, prose

Transaction-based or transactional giving

Unlike normal charitable giving Buy One Give One giving is transactional. What is meant by that is: every time you buy something you give something. In the case of SunNight Solar they give a physical light for every light sold. In most cases, businesses that become part of this special form of transaction-based giving, give in a different way. At Buy1GIVE1, giving can start from just USD 1c contribution per sale. At this amount no business in the world can say they cannot give and 100% contributed goes to the cause.

The amount contributed from each sale is not the point of focus with Buy1GIVE1 transaction based giving. The focus is instead on the story and sharing the simple joy of giving. In the end, if you think that 1c is not a lot to contribute and is unlikely to make much of a difference think again and consider the following idea.

From its origins in Ethiopia, where the main coffee production is still from wild coffee tree forests, coffee consumption has spread globally. Brazil is still by far the largest coffee producer in the world producing on average 28% of the world’s total coffee. In 2006 Brazil produced enough coffee to make 216,400,000,000 (216 billion four hundred million) espresso coffees. If we were to calculate across global production then we get a daily global consumption of around 2,117,416,830 cups of coffee – wow. The figures are somewhat hard to track down but let’s guess that 40% of the world’s coffee is sold and consumed in coffee shops then we would get that 846,966,732 cups are sold commercially each day globally – nearly 900 million. This would equate to about’5,485,714 cups in the US on its own seeing they purchase around 21% of the world’s coffee.

Now imagine that for every cup of coffee sold a child was given clean drinking water from its own well. It costs just 1cent per person per day to do this. Any coffee shop could afford to contribute this amount from the sale of a cup of coffee. Instead of clean water a coffee shop could contribute for the education of coffee farmers’ children, costing from 23cents per child per day. The options and stories are unlimited as well as the potential difference that Buy One Give One transactional giving can make to the lives of many.

Transaction-based giving is the story of a thousand-mile journey starting with a single step. Digging a well costs a few thousand dollars, however when you break the cost down it only takes the sale of a single cup of coffee to give clean water to a single person for a day1. This is the incredible and simple power of transactional giving. It is like the compound interest of giving – a little turns into a huge amount very quickly.

So many companies are used to doing things on their own. Doing transactional giving is no different. A company can go out find a cause and start doing Buy One Give One giving. And yet they are missing the point when they do this. Buy1GIVE1 giving is about sharing the joy of giving and not trying to change the world. As soon as you step up and say you are going to change the world then the world will step up and challenge you. Within a heartbeat a company would experience the sharp scrutiny of the media inspecting their every move. And yet when a company steps up and says it is supporting what its customer want and joins with others in its industry to do that in a win-win way, the story is different. When companies choose to join together under a commonly recognised banner/brand they can have a powerful joint effect. The ripple that a single company creates is added to that of another and the ripple grows into a tidal wave that benefits so many. This is the power of giving and doing things together.

The final power of Buy One Give One transaction based giving is that everyone wins – the consumer wins – at no extra cost to themselves they have made a difference through their purchasing choices – the business wins in so many ways – and the worthy cause or charity wins because they can now receive small amounts from many sources all aggregated and paid as a lump sum from a single source if done through the Buy1GIVE1 service.

A new start

If you go and check Wikipedia.com today for the word BOGO you should find that a new definition has been added. It’s time for a tide-change – a change from focusing on GETTING to working with GIVING. I added this small addition to Wikipedia’s BOGO definition: “… an acronym in the Marketing industry that stands for Buy One GIVE One.”

Just imagine our world where every time you shopped and bought something you gave something – automatically and seamlessly. This is the simple joyful magic of transaction based giving.

This is the world I want to be part of.

And remember – you don’t ‘get’ giving till you get giving.

References:

http://www.buy1-give1free.com/index.php/Partnering/Worthy-cause-charity-projects.html

http://www.goodpurposecommunity.com/

http://www.tesco.com/greenerliving/what_we_are_doing/ethical_clothing.page

http://www.scfnw.org.uk/site/article183.html

http://www.scfnw.org.uk/site/article183.html

http://www.goodpurposecommunity.com/

http://www.dep.org.uk/globalexpress/13/page1.htm

Footnotes: 1 Daily cost per person is calculated by taking the average cost to dig a well, dividing it by its average expected life without major maintenance, divided by the number of people in the community benefiting from the well on a daily basis.

Discover more about how Buy1GIVE1 (BOGO) can transform your business using Cause Marketing.

Bees are all giving by nature. They give naturally to maintain the environment of abundance. But each bumblebee actually takes a different focus in maintaining the colony as well as the flower garden. So, I thought human beings are the same. We are all naturally giving and sharing. But we express our giving in different ways. So, here it is a ‘giving bee’ chart where you can find your bee type. Watch out for the following bee analysis! The more you share your value as a giving bees, the more we can all do together to make a difference.

Check here for image: http://www.buy1-give1free.com/images/What-type-of-giving-bee-are-you-Global-Giving-Village-sml.jpg

Bee type analysis

1. Change-making bumblebee

A giving bumblebee who likes to see change – who spots every opportunity to do something better and worthwhile. A change-making bee often starts up new amazing projects for others to participate in. A flexible thinker who can collaborate well with others while often taking a leadership position in making change. Many entrepreneurs and creators are this type of giving bee. They are not afraid of creating change.

2. Believing bumblebee

A giving bee who believes in one core belief very strongly and inspire others to follow. Rather than changing all the time and being too flexible, this giving bee attracts everyone by being solid like a rock and integral to the steadfast belief and vision. Some of the religious leaders as well as political leaders are this type of giving bee. Believing bumblebees makes for a great leader who attracts large numbers of followers. This bee also can be a great follower who strongly supports an existing belief and excites others to come together.

3. Caring and nurturing bee

A giving bee who may not stand out as a firm leader but often are the biggest heart focused giver. A caring and nurturing bee is egoless in giving and is always the first to take the giving action when seeing anyone in need. Though this bumblebee seems gentle and caring, the strong desire to give and care for others drives this giving bee to demonstrate some unimagined giving acts. Many people who dedicate their lives to giving (volunteering, community service etc) are this type of bee. Giving is totally natural to them.

4. Supporting and uniting bumblebee

A giving bumblebee who sees the largest value in connecting and cooperating in effective partnerships. This giving bee is very focused on looking for existing great ideas, mechanisms, philosophies or beliefs to benefit the community. It tends to support what resonates with him/her more often than coming up with a brand new way. A supporting and uniting bumblebee is less attached to own way and has more flexible thinking while being quite strategic about what to support. Rather than taking immediate action emotionally, this bee sees the value in creating the long-term unity. Long-term ‘quiet’ charity givers and people who take low profile in community giving but stick to the same project for a long time are more often than not this type of bee.

Original article is at: http://www.buy1-give1free.com/index.php/598-What-is-your-giving-bee-type.html

Find out more about how Buy1GIVE1 (BOGO) can transform your business using Cause Marketing.

B1G1 (Buy One Give One) connects business enterprises with charitable cause right around the world so that every business sale makes a significant difference somehow, somewhere, every second, every day. And it does much more than that. It adds a powerful Marketing ‘engine’ building your own magnetism.

Michael Porter, probably the globe’s most respected business strategist says this: “I used to see this area of corporate social philanthropy as the last thing on my agenda 10 years ago, but now I agree that social and economic issues are intertwined. Corporate philanthropy – or corporate social responsibility – is becoming an ever more important field for business. Today’s companies ought to invest in corporate social responsibility as part of their business strategy to become more competitive.”

Everyone we talk with about Buy 1 GIVE 1 gets it instantly. It’s an idea that totally resonates and makes sense. And it’s an idea whose time has come.

You can step up to make a continuing difference and literally play a part, not just in leaving a legacy, but also in transforming our planet. It could be the best business and personal choice you’ve ever made. After all you will leave a legacy the question is : will it be one of consumption or one of choice.

Bill Gates has become central to this new way of thinking, calling for ‘Creative Capitalism’ in response to the vital question, he shares in TIME Magazine:

“How can we most effectively spread the benefits of capitalism and the huge improvements in quality of life it can provide to people who have been left out?”

Buy1GIVE1 is about Sharing the Joy of Giving; and giving, results from having gratitude for what we have in our lives.

Remember – you don’t ‘get’ giving till you get giving.

Discover more about how Buy1GIVE1 (BOGO) can transform your business using Cause Marketing.

Buy1GIVE1 is the home of transaction-based giving.

STOP. Take a breath. And imagine you were part of a world where every transaction made a difference.

Imagine, for example, you bought a TV, and automatically a cataract-blind person received the gift of sight. Automatically. Or imagine if today you purchased a cup of coffee and someone in Africa got access to clean, pure water as a direct result. Again automatically.

It’s all happening right now. Already Buy1GIVE1 (Buy1/Give1) has become a true global giving ‘village’, bringing together businesses, their customers and worthy causes in a way that’s never been done before.

It’s happening globally, every second, every day and in every way with a staggering 556 projects already underway and making a difference.

That’s because in the Buy1GIVE1 world, every single transaction, be it buying a cup of coffee in Cape Town or renting a car in Reno (and everything in between) gives back in a well-defined, resonant and measurable way.

Nowadays, when both corporations and charities have seen a decrease in profits and contributions, cause-related marketing appears to really be catching on. Cause-related Marketing is a business scheme involving a partnership between a company with a product to sell and a charity with a cause to advance. As opposed to “corporate philanthropy,” which merely involves a company making a tax-deductible charitable contribution, cause-related marketing benefits both the company (by helping to increase sales, and therefore, profits), and the charity (by giving donations and calling attention to the cause.)

You buy a book, a tree gets planted. You dine out, a child is fed. Buy One Give One – simple. The list goes is endless and the giving simply happens automatically, every second, every day and in every way.

And it is beautifully simple. Buy1GIVE1 is now becoming a global movement as more and more businesses jump on board and enjoy the incredible benefits of transaction based giving.

In Buy1GIVE1, they make it a point that in all cases, the consumer is simply not engaged in CSR initiatives on a day-to-day basis. Buy1-Give1 gives solutions to that and it does it every second, every day and in every way.

Find out more about how Buy1GIVE1 (BOGO) can transform your business using Cause Marketing.

Part One of Three

This collection of beautiful quotes that will inspire you to awaken your curiosity about the mystery of life is excerpted from “ONE”, a book by Masami Sato, the founder of Buy1GIVE which is a global giving organisation sharing the joy of giving. The quotes in this first edition include topics that are profoundly related to our everyday lives, such as mystery, judgment and connection. This article is the first part of the 3 “ONE Book Life-Changing Quotes Series”.

On transforming judgment

“Judgment often has very little relation to reality.”

“Actions and words don’t always accurately reflect who we are. Every single one of us has had the experience of wanting to undo what we did or said.”

On the mystery of life

“It’s very, very clear that we don’t need to know all of the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of life to keep living on this planet.”

“There are so many things we don’t understand in life. In spite of that lack of understanding though, we often enjoy experiencing those things.”

“Seeing is important but trying to figure out everything isn’t necessary.”

“The scientists are not here to reveal the ‘truth’ because we are here to seek it forever. They are actually here to complicate the game (of life) so that we can have more questions and enjoy the game longer.”

Connection

“Connection is the core of everything. That’s what life is. Connection.”

“Every single thing we do is to satisfy the need for connection.”

“We cannot feel unhappy when we are feeling totally connected. It’s impossible!”

“We are designed to constantly seek ways to connect to each other and to a greater purpose.”

“‘solutions’ coming from fear and doubt may not be the most effective ways. We end up feeling more and more disconnected from each other.”

“We can only truly celebrate the victory with others when we win together. Then we feel connected.”

“This is the game called ONE. The aim of the game is to ‘connect’! We keep connecting until we all become ONE.

Discover more about how Buy1GIVE1 (BOGO) can transform your business using Cause Marketing.

The secret of attaining what one wants has been revealed. It is just the simple act of giving. The basis of this is explained in the background of the classical dictum “Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?” Chicken and the egg, continuously forming the cycle of life and renewing it, is a profound example of giving and getting what one wants: the circle of joy. This idea is fully analyzed in the resonant voice of Masami Sato, the author of the book ONE.

As human beings, most of us have yearnings for different kinds of things. And of course, the fundamental principles of economics tell us that while needs are unlimited, resources are not. This makes us think that the more resources we have, the more yearnings we would be able to satisfy. As such we tend to safeguard our resources. We would then feel that giving away these resources or splitting it between many would lessen the portion that can be used to get what we desire. This is the conventional win-lose strategy that is being played out.

Is this true, then?

What if the answer turns out to be “no”? What if it in fact contradicts the secret of attaining more? What if the secret of attaining more is in itself simple – by giving more?

You can get something simply by giving. Just like you can have eggs by breeding chickens. Just like that. Natural. Automatic. And it’s an absolutely joyful experience.

First of all, let us begin with some analogy to explain things.

Chicken and Egg – The Cycle of Life

Many a philosopher has come out with this question from the beginning of time, “Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?”

The answer to this endless discussion is simple: It actually doesn’t matter because both chickens and eggs are here now. But if we want to have more great outcomes, we can choose to start somewhere.

Giving and Receiving: the Cycle of Joy

What happens, if we pose a different question? “Which comes first, giving or receiving?”

Again, for better results, we have to begin somewhere. Giving away things to others is definitely far simpler than attempting to get it first!

What happens if we are trying to get it first?

If we hope to have something, surely we would try to acquire it. And once we get it, we would cling on to it. This is surely natural – it makes sense rationally.

But the actual result of ‘trying to get’ is mostly not ample and actual long term benefits.

For example, hoping to see others happy is not at all about deriving joy from them, or manipulating them to become happy. It is about how much happiness we can give them and thereby share with them. Full stop.

So how do we begin to get what we desire?

By starting from the other end of the circle- by giving generously!

When we are ready to give away first before we have even got what we hope for – what we are dreaming of – we are sending a strong message to ourselves which says, ‘there is enough, and more will come.’ It lets us feel the joy today – the joy of sharing.

All that is required of us is to give out the love in abundance to others. It would somehow come back to us. Giving love is the only way to be completely loved. When we recognize others for the big things they do and great credentials they have, again it would come back to us. Others accept us because we accept them.

In the same way, if we wanted to have enough in our life materially, financially and emotionally, we just need to share the things we want generously with others.

Some are ready to give more physical things like time. Others opt to give what they can spare financially, like money. Those who give more (time, money, compassion, love, thoughts) have these things in abundance because it is the surplus. And surplus is the natural law of life.

Remind oneself of the rules of the game.

Rule one: never hope to get anything in return when a thing is given.

When we have the expectation that giving should create ‘getting’ something back, we get upset when we don’t see the result coming back immediately to us. We may even hold unpleasant feelings towards the recipient of our gift. And clearly, holding a negative feeling for someone is not a pleasant or kind thing to do! So we can feel the real joy of giving when we’re doing something for others knowing that we’re simply doing it for ourselves-we’re doing it for our own joy!

Losing to succeed, giving to receive.

In the beginning it may look as if we are losing. However, at some stage we recognize that taking things without giving is not an acceptable life pattern. And we have been aware of it all throughout. That is why tithing has been a normal part of the lives of many people who were leaders. And they did not do it with any fanfare so it was not done to gain popularity. It was done because it was a way of life.

Just take a look around. ‘Simple’ forms of life on the earth do it routinely. The bumblebees fertilize the flowers in return for the honey they take from them and ensure that the flowers bloom profusely. Habitually. That is the rule. They do not do it consciously. That is why they maintain nature’s balance, without even trying.

Giving is just being who we are, it is just like having; not greater or lesser. No difficulty, no conditions attached, just releasing oneself.

The real secret of getting more can be summarised in two steps: Give first, and do not expect anything in return.

When we let go and give open-handedly, what we require would come to us. On its own.

Find out more about how Buy1GIVE1 (BOGO) can transform your business using Cause Marketing.

As the old saying goes, health is wealth. And in this case we are referring to spiritual wealth. Whole food is good for our health because our body is able to absorb its full nutrients – the same with our life. When we embrace our life as a whole, savoring all the experiences and feelings in it, our soul will be able to absorb its full ‘nutrient’, grasping the full essence of our existence, and enabling us to live our life to the fullest. Masami Sato shares the magic of living a whole life in this excerpt from her latest book, ONE.

Why is it many of us (in fact, most of us) occasionally experience some kind of empty feeling in our life? It is like being hungry. When we eat, we feel satisfied and become less interested in food. But as some time passes, we get hungry again. Then all of a sudden we feel so attracted to the smell and thought of food. We can also feel some kind of hunger when we are not even physically hungry-just after eating something. Some of us stay being hungry all the time.

Perpetual emotional vacuum is not the best of feelings. Then how do we live our lives to the maximum? How can we be more fulfilled forever?

Maybe the answer is simple: just live our lives as a whole. The word ‘whole’ holds the meaning of completion. Then the secret to live a complete life is simply to live it as a whole.

Let us commence by looking at a sample of this ‘fullness’ with something very close to our heart – our stomach.

Whole Food VS Semi Food

We are familiar with the word ‘whole food.’ It is said that consuming whole food is the secret to the health and fitness we need. What has whole food got more than ‘part food?’

A whole grain for example has a life. So, if you soak the whole grain in water, drain the next day and leave for a few days, it sprouts. It has a life of its own. When we eat such food, our body absorbs the full live nutrients. It has all the properties to cleanse, heal and nurture different body cells.

As in the example of a grain, most conventional dining includes having whole creatures as well. Having entire fresh fish used to be more popular than taking a portion of fish and throwing the balance away. It was ditto for poultry and also for vegetables.

‘Part food’ sometimes tastes better and smells better but does not have much nutrition. We may enjoy its taste, but we could have some lasting illness if we only ate ‘part food’ all days of our life.

So, to make up for the missing half, we began to take nutritional supplements. We have been trying and researching for pretty long to find the perfect equilibrium. It gets more and more difficult as we slice the food up, add preservatives and transport, and even try to supplement with other parts coming from various sources, places and seasons. Some of the nutrients are not even from natural resources. They are synthetically generated. After it is tested and analysed, it is approved for man’s consumption. But however hard we try, we cannot merge the ‘bits’ from different sources to make it alive.

Part Life-’Sweetness’ of Life

So, if we perceive our life now, much of what we are doing can be similar to eating the ‘part food.’ Just enjoying the sugariness of life but jettisoning the real nutritious part. And if we put our ‘part life’ in water with other pieces and left it in the sunlight, could it germinate and grow into a beautiful complete life?

Whole food is not (as some people perceive it) poor in taste. It is actually tastier when we prepare it properly. But while the demand is low, it is more expensive. It is actually more economical in the long run though, as we have less medical expenses later on. When more people start eating it, it will naturally become cheaper because it is a simpler food with less processing and waste.

Our life is identical. When we are only conscious of the ‘sweet taste’ and discard the remainder into the dust bin because we do not realise its worth, we may be jettisoning the most important component. And that which we cast out could have the maximum power for the substantiation of our life and our financial system. It also needs more vigour and sources to throw it away. Better yet, that which we throw away comes at no cost.

So, what is it that we do not perceive?

Think of a life where we didn’t actually sense we were missing anything there.

The secret is right there. The secret of a whole life.

Full Life-The Complete Life

When it’s ‘whole’, it doesn’t matter how big the whole is. It can expand simultaneously. It can still contain all the elements to sustain itself as a whole living being. Once it grows to a certain size, it can still live without some of the parts. Like plants can live after being eaten a little by birds or trees still thrive even after losing their leaves. But if we neglect the balance for a very long time, eventually it can start creating a fatal imbalance. Then it could become too complicated to get back into balance.

We do not have to revert to Stone Age to find entirety. Entirety exists in the current. All we should do is watch intimately; watch intimately enough to actually see.

When we begin seeing our life in its fullness and stop casting out what nurtures our life the most, we start experiencing more and more satisfaction without looking for ‘things’ to fill the gaps and hollows of our life. Things finally fit into place. We now grasp the intricacies of our world in a completely different manner.

Yes, it is now time to learn how we can form (and find) this equilibrium constantly and manageably.

The real nourishing part of our life is what makes us feel good deep down. It is like the part of food that makes our body become healthy in the long-term. Feelings we experience in our everyday life are the real key to our long-term happiness. And there are feelings that make us feel more complete.

The smiles we see when we give acknowledgements to others. The joy we feel when we give gifts to others. The love we feel when we see our children being happy. The inspirations we receive when we feel our life is full of meaning

Let’s experience these moments of our life fully and enjoy the flavour of our whole life. Then we will see how it is not so necessary to continuously fill our mind (and stomach!) with temporal gratifications-those types of things that make us even hungrier afterwards.

We can actually feel this joy, gratitude and love in order to experience the life as a whole at any moment regardless of the situations. It is not about what we see, what we hear or what we do that complete our life as a whole. It is about what we ‘choose to’ feel about our life.

Yes, our life indeed is already complete.

When we begin acting based on this awareness, we can have real mastery over the balance creation – lasting physical wellbeing, riches, nourishing bond and joy.

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