my nonlinear

I came across this post a few weeks back.  I read it and then clicked on to some other Internet wonders of course, as we do. But the words stuck in my head.

I found myself thinking about it a lot.  By the next day I went back to find it and have a re-read.  It made me think. How often do I put into that cookie jar, and was I taking more than putting in.

What difference would it make if I did take from this jar and never put back into it? Would it be any use to anyone if we were all takers? There is a real beauty about what Stefan wrote because the vibe I have been feeling with social networking at the moment has been exactly this cookie jar principle. It seems that maybe I have been lucky with the folks I ‘follow’ and vice versa but I feel a real spirit of a place where folks are helping and contributing.  Seems the jar is very full at the moment, and it’s likely to stay that way.

Read the full article on his site:  The Cookie Jar Principle or you can read it below as he has written it:

The Cookie Jar Principle by Steffan Antonas on July 6, 2009

Give more than you take. It’s as simple as that. If we embrace this one powerful principal in our lives, individually we will enjoy meaningful, vibrant relationships and collectively create a culture of abundance. If we can’t, we end up with an empty jar.

We can all point to a friend or colleague who breaks the rule repeatedly. They call only when they need something and they only show up or participate when it benefits them. They forget that the act of taking from the jar implies that they will one day put back more than what they took. In many ways selfishness is failing to recognize that when you chose to benefit from the effort or contributions of another, you become part of a self-sustaining cycle of give and take, and that your actions alter the system’s balance. In the fog of self-absorption we can loose sight of the truth and reality of the circumstances of both others and ourselves. When we take more than we give, everyone that depends on the contents of the jar loses.

Remember that every one of your relationships has its own jar. We fill them with our time, energy and love. Sharing, participating, and giving before we take signal our good faith – they are small promises that when it is our turn to take, we have not forgotten our responsibility to keep filling the jar. What we do take, we should always strive to return with interest. This simple principal is as true for individual relationships as it is for groups, families and communities of any size. When we agree to be a part of the group, whether the group is 2 or 2 million,  we accept an equal and shared responsibility for the jar.