Give me love and then I will give you love?

"And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." The Beatles. Most of us expect to get love first and then give it in response. But I have found that I have to GIVE love (oftentimes repeatedly with nothing coming back in return), before I start to GET love. Standing in front of a wood stove and saying "Give me heat and I will give you wood" does not work. Who can you give love to first?