The ego is always trying to get something for itself from others and from the environment because it’s afraid and unhappy. The ego believes it doesn't have enough to be happy, so its strategy is to withhold what it has and try to get more of what it thinks it needs to be happy.
This strategy may seem sensible—and to the ego, it is. However, the real solution to the perception of not having enough is to see that that perception is erroneous and that we have always had enough to be happy. Right now, we are existing and being supported in that existence, which has always been true and will be true for the remainder of our lives. From the place of realizing we have what we need to be happy, and only from that place of completeness, can giving happen, because if we believe we don't have enough to be happy, why would we give?
The ego's belief in not having enough blocks love, which is essentially an outflow of attention, energy, or gifts to others. When the majority of people believe they don't have enough to be happy, the global flow of love and energy is sluggish. However, when the majority of people believe otherwise, love and energy flow, proving the abundance and support that is available in life.
We are free to choose the ego's way and withhold what we have to give or to give more freely. The result of these two choices is very different: When we give freely, we feel full and complete; when we withhold, we feel small, petty, impotent, and lacking. We are meant to learn that giving fulfills us, while withholding and trying to get causes us to feel empty and even more needy. This understanding runs counter to our programming, which drives us to try to get something from others to fulfill our neediness, only to end up even more needy, grasping, lacking, and unfulfilled.
The value of giving is one of the great secrets of life. Giving requires a leap of faith, an ability to trust that giving is worthwhile. Once we begin to trust this and see the results of giving, then giving becomes much easier, even when we feel we don't have enough. To make this leap, we only need to see that the feeling of not having enough isn't true, but merely the way the ego sees life. Feelings don't tell the truth about life, but are an outgrowth of the programming of the false self.
Allowing the perception of lack to interfere with giving results in the very sense of lack the ego believes in. The ego's belief in not having enough is a self-fulfilling prophecy. As long as we believe we don't have enough to be happy, we won't give and we won't discover the truth, which is that Life is abundantly providing for us to the extent that we join the global flow, the outpouring of giving. If we hold ourselves separate from the Whole, however, then we won't benefit as fully from the flow of Life as possible. Life is calling to us to jump into the flow of abundance and to contribute our share. The more who do that, the more abundantly we all can live.
From Embracing the Now