When Giving is Your Currency

© 2025. Boston Institute for Meaningful Purpose and Luis A. Marrero

“No one has ever become poor by giving.”— Anne Frank

What brings me true happiness and prosperity?

Last night, I delivered an engaging and successful presentation on Organization Development 2.0—based on our Meaningful Purpose Psychology theory and method—to a group of Organization Behavior students from a renowned university.

As the session ended and I reflected on the positive, even transformative, impact it had on the students, I was reminded of a truth I discovered years ago and continue to affirm:

Giving is the most meaningful and enduring currency.

You see, I wasn’t compensated for this presentation. Yet the joy I experienced far exceeded even those moments when I am paid well and the client is delighted. Why? Because this joy came from a place of love.

It reminded me of Viktor Frankl’s deeply moving insight from Man’s Search for Meaning:

“For the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth—that love is the ultimate and highest goal to which man can aspire…The salvation of man is through love and in love.”

Giving is one of the purest expressions of love. When we give meaningfully, we build others—lifting their confidence, affirming their worth, and restoring their humanity.

As the presentation progressed, I watched the students’ faces shift. I saw relief, clarity, and hope. A spark of purpose began to take shape. They were starting to understand not just what doesn’t work about legacy solutions, but why—and more importantly, what does.

Meaningful giving is the transfer of light—clarity, purpose, and love—from one soul to another.

That evening, the students began to experience a glimpse of meaning lucidity—the capacity to perceive reality more clearly, with fewer distortions and greater insight. While meaning lucidity is a lifelong journey, even this initial exposure helped them begin to see with new eyes—why legacy solutions fall short, and what more truthful and transformative alternatives look like. With increasing lucidity comes confidence, courage, and competence—the power to act wisely and well. It is also the source of lasting joy and well-being—one of the five pillars of The Meaningful Path.

At the heart of both The Meaningful Path and meaning lucidity is also a profound sense of humility—the kind that allows us to give without seeking praise, to teach without ego, and to remain open to learning no matter how far along we are in our journey. I share this experience not to elevate myself, but to celebrate what happens when meaning, love, and service converge. True transformation doesn’t require grandiosity; it requires clarity, compassion, and the quiet strength of humility.

So today, I celebrate those who give—not out of obligation, but out of love.

And I pray that more of us may walk The Meaningful Path—where giving, not getting, is our currency.

— Luis A. Marrero

For a video of this article, please select here: https://lumen5.com/user/luis-o9t/the-currency-of-givi-cbvhb/