The Law of Space: How to Give and Receive
SUMMARY
“We join spokes together in a wheel, but it is the center hole that makes the wagon move. We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want. We hammer wood for a house, but it is the inner space that makes it livable.” – Lao Tsu
Key #4: The Law of Space
Today’s distinction is quite literally, profound. I didn’t come up with it, so I have no problem telling you that. But I do understand it. It may not seem like it has much to do with anything, but it has something to do with everything. It’s one of those things a wise old eastern philosopher might say to you that you could easily dismiss as nonsense, when in fact it is sage wisdom. It’s so counterintuitive, and yet so simple. It is what I call The Law of Space.
The Law states simply this, space attracts that which is greater than what occupied it before. Imagine your bank account is a vault filled with one dollar bills. On top of your vault is an opening with a tube that leads to an even larger vault on the next floor above. Let’s imagine that the vault on the second floor is filled with one hundred dollar bills. Each time you willfully remove a dollar bill from your vault, it creates just enough space for a one hundred dollar bill to drop in from the vault above. Each time you create space in your vault by removing a one dollar bill, you make room for something even greater to fill that space.
Think of it another way …
Have you ever resisted something that you didn’t want in your life only to find that the moment you stopped resisting it the Universe took care of it for you? The moment you willfully let the resistance go, you created the space for the solution to fill in. In recovery we recognize this as the operating law behind surrender. In surrender we give up the resistance, and in doing so create space for the solution to exist. The Divine or Higher Power is always looking for a conduit to create in the physical world. We are that conduit. We are creators, designed to create as instruments of Creation itself. The problems is that most of the time we live in a scarcity mentality. Fear, worry, anxiety, jealousy and not enough time, not enough money, not enough resources clog the creative channels. We hold on to what little we have in constant fear that there isn’t any more in the near future.
When we live this way, we have no capacity to receive. We block ourselves from the resources that are constantly trying to make their way towards us. Have you ever heard the old adage ‘the more you give, the more you get?’ This isn’t some cliché muttered by old housewives. It is another way of articulating the Law of Space: Space attracts that which is greater than what occupied it before.
When we empty our minds, we make room for inspiration, creativity and ideas. When we give of our financial resources, we create the space to receive even money. When we give of our time, we make room for the Universe to miraculously and effortlessly complete our tasks for us. Have you ever noticed that the more you free yourself of selfish tendencies and serve others, the more things just seem to flow for you? This isn’t just happenstance. It is because of the Law of Space.
When we create space by giving, or by allowing the Universe to take from us what no longer serves us, we create space for the next person, experience or resource to come into our lives. When we hoard what we have or resist when it is time for us to give something up, we block the miracle from manifesting. “I don’t have any money to give, I’m just trying to make ends meet,” some might say. I’d encourage you to look at it from Higher Power’s perspective. If you had unlimited resources, would you give them to someone who could be resourceful even in scarcity, or someone who was waiting for more before they were willing to be resourceful? Who makes a better steward of the gifts of the universe, someone who figures out how to give when they have little to give, or someone who holds on to what they have fearing that no more may be coming?
The key is to create space even when you don’t believe you have anything to give – to give of what little you have so that even more can replace what was there before. This is the Law of Space and if you begin to find ways to use it you will experience greater peace of mind and more abundance than you could have ever possibly imagined. Can you imagine for a moment what it would be like if you knew that each time something was taken from you, it was making space for something even better? How would you show up in life differently if you knew that each time you freely gave of your money, your time, and yourself, that you were not only serving others but creating the space for even more resources to flow to you and through you?
The Law of Space is a formula for miracle making. Why don’t you start to use it and become the miracle maker you are destined to be? Where have you been resisting Higher Power’s attempts to remove what you no longer need to make room for what you do? Where can you create more space in your life by freely giving of yourself and your resources?
Where can you be resourceful and find ways to give even in the areas of your life where you believe you are already lacking (time, money, etc.?)
Today’s Distinction
Today I will give of myself. I will give my smile to someone who needs comforting. I will give my praise to someone who needs uplifting. I will give my wisdom to someone who needs experience. I will give my lane to someone in a hurry. I will give the door to someone in need of a hand. I will find ways to be resourceful and to give in ways that I have never thought of giving before. I will surrender myself to Higher Power, and trust that I will be given only that which will serve my highest purpose. I will empty myself into the world so that I may be filled with the spirit of my highest self.
