Generosity

No act of kindness, no matter how small is ever wasted.  ~Aesop

I read recently (where??) an article about generosity which suggested that we not second guess our desire to be generous.  To be kind.  To not decide against generosity because it might cost “too much” time or money.  But rather to use our own generous impulses to be the kind of person we want to be.  To give into generosity rather than to mistrust it.  She gave the example of someone admiring a scarf she was wearing – and her impulse was to take it off right there and give it to the person who admired it.  But, she thought to herself, “I may need this scarf several months from now… I might miss it if I give it away (even though this is the first time I’ve worn it in months.). She didn’t give the scarf away --- and later she wished she had.

What does it really cost our soul when we decide not to be generous?   … to leave a meager or no tip, to avert our eyes from the person on the corner asking for change, to hit NO on the question “round up for the hungry” at the grocery store.  Yes, there are, of course, people who might scam us, and how do we know the money we give goes where we want and on and on.  All valid questions – and yet?   And yet, might we treat these opportunities where we have an impulse to bake some cookies for a friend or to take a casserole to the neighbor, or add some extra to the tip – what if we treated these as opportunities to practice our own generosity.  To expand our giving rather than to measure it out.  To name that as a spiritual practice.

I’m not suggesting we give away the family fortune, only that we take opportunities to be generous (especially with our time) when they come our way.  I want to see myself as generous.  I want to live in a world that is generous. Generosity doesn't only mean giving money -- but giving time, giving space, giving physical assistance. May we create the generous world we want to live in. 

To give is not

to give away –

but rather to accept

oneself as generous.

To open your heart,

your fist, your wallet.

Not for the other

but for you.

For you to embody

the person you say

you want to be;

open

            generous

                        easy…

To give because

the giver also  gets.

            ~Penny Hackett-Evans