Receiving is Giving

Yesterday, somebody I had been coaching and mentoring over the last decade or so, and particularly over the past two years in his career, gave me an ang pow (a red packet with cash in it - usually given to wish a person good wishes, or as a form of appreciation). He had just moved into the industry of his dreams and received a promotion. He invited me for lunch with his family and later came over to my place for a chat. That was when he presented me with the ang pow. 

I felt a little embarrassed to accept it but decided to take it graciously in the end. Objectively, it is not in my nature to accept gifts from friends, and frankly, I even feel uneasy when someone praises me for anything. I’ve learned that such behaviours could possibly be rooted in my own sense of self-worth (or the lack of it), and that I should learn to accept praise and gifts when they are due. 

And that was what I did - even as I realised the amount he gave was a highly generous one. I also rationalised that in accepting, I was actually giving him the joy of knowing he could repay me, in his own way, for the help I had offered him all these years and especially in helping him secure his new job.

So happy for him.