A couple of days ago, my sister and I were discussing the idea of giving and receiving, and how the concept works out, usually, to achieve equilibrium. I’ve been helping my sister out with some chores around the farm because she currently isn’t able to do them as she normally would, and in turn, she has been helping me to a significant degree with the planning of my upcoming wedding. We were chatting about how the ideology of giving and therefore receiving is somewhat a thing of the past, and further, how this is an unfortunate realization.
I feel like it was a common understanding, in the past, that if we give, or help someone out with something, normally, they return the favour. It isn’t that we expected something in return; that would be an exemplification of entitlement. Rather, it was just the way it was – if we did something to assist a friend, they would return the favour out of courtesy and appreciation. Nowadays, this doesn’t seem to exist, or, if it does, it is a rare occurrence as opposed to a common one.
I suppose there is a degree of entitlement and privilege that exists in the concept of giving and receiving, and when we consider the Christian way, it is wrong to assume that we are owed anything if we do something to benefit someone else. But, in the past, I would argue that getting something in return for helping someone wasn’t necessarily expected – it just happened. And I think it’s a little disheartening to acknowledge that this mindset isn’t supported in today’s world. If we receive something, a lot of us don’t grant a second thought towards how to go about repaying the person who gifted us with something. We accept and continue on with life.
Maybe it’s just me, but I find this shift towards giving and receiving to be pretty shitty. \
ontheedgeofeverything 
