Some people like to share whatever they have with those around them while others do not. Yet some others like to share in some areas but not in other areas.
Typically we pass everything through a filter in our mind. Everything that passes through this filter can be shared while those things that cannot pass through cannot be shared.
The mesh size of this filter is different in different people. Normally, those who grow up in sharing families become sharing people, and their sharing filters have a bigger mesh that lets them contribute more.
Read Also: 5 Benefits of Sharing.
However wide the mesh, over time, various factors may restrict the flow and prevent them from sharing.
Here are 5 factors that lead to our lack of interest in sharing as we grow up.
Selfishness
Selfish people are like sponges. A sponge absorbs water without giving anything back unless it is squeezed.
In the same way, selfish people want to receive for the self without giving anything back unless they are pushed.
Our selfishness has roots in our ego. When we are body conscious, we follow our ego and therefore tend to be selfish.
When we become selfish in one area of life, we want everything in that area for ourselves and do not like to share what we have with others.
We forget that when we become selfish, we spend time and energy in keeping what we have, and so we gradually forget about other important areas of life.
The outcome is one-dimensional growth and imbalance, dissatisfaction, and sadness.
Fear
Many times we do not share not because we are selfish but because we are afraid.
We think that if we share our ideas, knowledge, discoveries, and experience, others will not like them, will steal them from us, reject them, laugh at us, or take advantage.
Unless we overcome our fears, we cannot share our valuable gifts with others no matter how much we delay.
Lack of trust
When we do not trust others, we do not like to share anything with them.
Even if we do, it is not true sharing from our heart. That is why trust and faith are the cornerstones of leadership.
When leaders lose trust in their people, they lose interest in sharing, so lack of trust results in lack of sharing.
In the same way, when people lose trust in their leaders, they lose interest in sharing their stories, ideas, and experience and do not let their leaders discover much about them.
They do not share with their leaders how to discover new horizons for their organization.
Past experience
In most cases, our lack of interest in sharing is linked to our past experiences. For instance, if we are used to sharing in one area of our life but someone takes advantage of us, we become less sharing next time.
Because of that experience, our mind filter restricts flow in that area and prefers to put a stamp of not to be shared on subjects related to that topic.
Many times our lack of interest in sharing cannot even be linked to recent experiences but to our experiences in childhood or even past lives, which cannot be remembered.
That is why we say, “This is who I am, and I cannot change.”
As long as we cannot find the real causes of not being able to share in a certain area of life, we cannot heal the inner wounds in that area and we cannot easily change our mind-set to share again in that area.
Real sharing without expecting anything in return takes courage, practice, and forgiveness.
Lack of knowledge about power of sharing
Sometimes the culture of an organization restricts people from sharing with others. Such organizations do not recognize the power of sharing.
Their lack of knowledge about the power of true sharing (which results in long-lasting success) prevents them from sharing.
The leaders in such organizations do not share and do not encourage others to share either.
The whole organization loses its synergy, and long-lasting success becomes impossible until the barriers are removed and sharing becomes the norm.
The key point about sharing is that what we receive, we receive for the sake of sharing, not for the self. Therefore, what we get should be passed on to others for success to flow freely.
Image: 9 Benefits of Sharing Best Practices in an Organization
