The idea you owe me causes a great deal of suffering and conflict in relationships. Obligation is never a satisfying motivation, whether you are on the giving end or the receiving end of the resulting action.
Our minds often keep score in our relationships, and then try to guilt ourselves or others into keeping the tally even.
But our hearts simply want to give, and hold no expectation of reciprocity.
Try conducting yourself as if no one owes you anything, and see how your relationships change.
Even after all this time
The sun never says to the earth,
“You owe Me.”
Look what happens with
A love like that,
It lights the Whole Sky.
– from The Gift – Poems by Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky
