Don’t be so keen on being a generous person that you’ll turn bitter forcing people around you to be selfish.

You know that for one person to be “a good person,” others around them must be bad. For you to be smart, others must be stupid. For you to be a hero, others must be victims. Think about this. Every time you want to be better than them, they have to be worse.

Imagine this soulmate cycle: You become a Christian, and to get to heaven, you figure you have to start GIVING something to people without expecting anything in return. So you bring your neighbor a pie but don’t want anything in return; that would totally spoil your good intentions. You keep doing this for lifetime after lifetime, raising the stakes each time and insisting on not getting anything in return, teaching your soulmates to be takers instead of givers.

Eventually, you realize they EXPECT you to do these things because, for lifetimes upon lifetimes, you’ve prided yourself on being the generous, capable one—the good Christian.

Eventually, you’ve tapped yourself dry and hate everybody for taking, taking, and taking.

Now. Next on your agenda: Give them a chance to pay you back. You OWE THEM the right to even the score and to balance their karma with you. Sometimes, the only thing people want from you is a chance to give back.

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