How often do we do something with the anticipation that someone else will respond in kind? i.e.”If I do this for him, then he’ll do this for me.”
The problem is that if everything is seen through the lens of a transaction, then how do we deal with the times when people do not return the favor? If we see what we do only from the perspective of how others respond, we’re setting ourselves up for heartache and frustration when things don’t go as anticipated.
On the other hand, if we see what we do as our gift to someone else, then we don’t have to worry about what they do or don’t do in response. If it’s truly a gift, then there’s no expectation of return. Seeing our work and actions this way, and not as merely our part of a transaction, frees us up to focus on what we’re actually doing and how we’re doing it, not solely on how somebody else may or may not respond.