What And When Not To Share - written by Stacey Zimmerman

"A burden shared is a burden halved but a joy shared is a joy doubled"

Do you understand what that means? Well, basically, when we have someone to share our burden, whether it is to talk over our problems or carry a heavy luggage, the load is lightened. Similarly, when we have good and positive news, we share.

The point is -- sharing is a wonderful thing. It's the source for all humans to live. I can't imagine how someone can live without sharing because that will be a meaningless life.

If you notice, that's why social sites like myspace.com, facebook.com, twitter.com, etc are so popular in this age of internet or why people start blogs -- to share their thoughts and experiences.

But sharing is not just for the sheer joy doing it or releasing a burden because I think that the biggest benefit of sharing is internal growth.

Think about it. You share with your friend about a new book that you've read that's really good. Then your friend automatically tells you another good book that he has read. Now you both learned something new.

See what I mean?

The power of sharing is exponential. If you want someone to share something with you, share yours first. Now, I'm not teaching you to use this technique to get what you want from others but to emphasize that sharing has a reciprocal effect.

If you don't believe it works, try it.

Sometimes, it's not that we don't want to share but we're hoarding the information for our own benefit. It's an ugly truth because we all have a greedy side but if you don't want to face the reality here, that's fine. If you do, I'll tell you how to overcome that.

The first thing to realize is -- are you sharing something that is in abundance that the source cannot be emptied?

Secondly -- will those who receive your sharing be a threat to you?

And lastly, can you see the life of others changed because of your sharing?

If someone is very unhappy with his life but you're able to make him happy again by giving an extremely valuable advice, then you're sharing a source of abundance without threatening yourself in anyway and change his life. In return -- you'll "grow".

You should not give away a big chunk of money to your favorite charity and leave nothing for yourself and family to eat or pay bills. That's not sharing from an abundance source but a limited one.

Don't share your confidential business strategies with your competitors because they will just turn around and bite you the first chance they get.

Don't share your house with a king because it will not have a profound effect on him. The king already has a palace to live in. But if you want to share your house, share it with someone who doesn't have a luxurious house like yours or a shelter to stay in.

It is said that the primary job of a teacher is to teach the students. However, a lot of teachers actually learned through discussions and observations. That's the balance of life -- a universal law that is unbreakable.

The growth of knowledge thrives from expressing and receiving information that 2 or more individuals can grow from.

You see, your point of view and experiences in anything is unique only to you. So are other people's points of view and experiences. Know what happens when all these unique points of view and experiences collide? Synergy.

That's why seminars are such great places for learning. The people who participate not only get new information from the speakers, but from other participants as well. And of course -- the motivation and inspiration from the environment.

However, motivation and inspiration die if they are not continuously fed. If each of the participants leaves the seminar with the knowledge and let it collect dust in their own heads, it's not going to grow right?

My advice -- keep the knowledge 'alive' by sharing the knowledge and here's the good thing, you're not restricted to conventional methods.

Take a look at some personal improvement forums. Some of these forum members are experts, but not all of them. They are there to learn while at the same time, adding their own knowledge and experience. And because it's a free forum, everyone around the world is invited to be part of the growing community.

At the same time, are you the type of person who's hesitant to share your knowledge because you are afraid that people might laugh at you?

Again, like what is stated above, each one of us has our own unique experiences to share. So what if others disagree with it? That's just your opinion. If that is their attitude, then let it be. They are just missing out on an opportunity to see things with fresh eyes.

Besides -- if you're sharing through a blog or forum, what is there to be embarrassed about?

So the next time you have something to share, let it out. By sharing it, you will grow.