Maybe I should have clarified. Giving is not really material so much as spiritual. The first thing to give is kindness and understanding. There is also the helping hand type of giving when you reach out to somebody in need and help them lift themsleves up. I said it that way on purpose because part of what I see wrong in this world are those who will take and take and take without ever trying to lift themselves up. There are those that will abuse your helping hand and never try to stand on their own. There are those that will take your helping hand and demand more, never being grateful for what you have freely given. There are those that will take your helping hand and kick you in the face for it. At that time they are no longer reasonable recipients for giving but should be pitied for their mindset as they will never know true happiness either.

It has been about as long since I watched TV except I also have no use for professional sports. My thoughts about TV are pretty much the same as yours. There is nothing I can really add to it.

I was lucky or unlucky, depending on your perspective, to grow up with a taker and a giver acting as examples. From them I learned the sometimes pain of being a giver and the daily pain of being a taker. Being a giver is far more important and greater benefit to all, even if you get taken advantage of on occasion.

There was an event in my life that may seem trivial but really did something for me. About ten years ago I was with my wife in an upper class restuarant. In a booth not far away was a youngish woman and her two young children, maybe 4 and 6 years old. They were the best behaved young children I had ever seen and as I was leaving I complimented the lady on her children and said something to each of the kids. A couple years later I was listening to a call in program about people who changed your life. A lady called in and mentioned that she had been in that restuarant with her kids and a stranger had said something kind to her about her children. She was going through a rough time in her life and it made her day. She wanted to thank that person. Maybe it wasn't me but I like to think it was and was able to bring some happiness to another person through a kind word. That is the first and most important kind of kindness; one to one and meaning it.

Now, imagine if we each did that once a day and never expected anything in return. Imagine that for once we did not look at personal gain but looked at bettering our world through kind acts.