Generosity entails a variety of elements, obviously aligning with the act of “giving” without necessarily receiving anything in return.
Though I’m saving much of my “giving” for charity week I have used a variety of methods to be generous to the people close to me.
1) Compliments: An easy way to be generous to people is to truly flatter them. This in the end will not only increase my personal relationship with them, but it shall also boost their self esteem to a level and could potentially brighten what could be a terrible day. I obviously needed a way to choose who to compliment so I used the obvious mechanism: Facebook.
2) Simple acts of courtesy: Not eating until everybody has received their meal. Getting water for everybody at a dinner table. Doing favors for coworkers whenever they ask you to (such as driving them home or taking over a shift). Saying no is obviously an option, but this week I was much less likely to do so because I wanted to be generous to the people around me. I even asked my mom to take her to the supermarket this week, going a total of 3 different places in an effort to be more generous.
3) Beyond the call of duty: Working at Fairmont provides let’s say many opportunities to “slack off” and simply case in point do nothing. I tried my best to keep myself busy this week and be even more generous, cleaning tables, mopping floors, and trying to talk to many kids as possible (and still work on remembering names).
4) Charity: I donated a portion of my tip at Yardhouse to Change 2 Charity, which allows some of the money to more directly go to charity. Obviously I will need to be more generous when that appropriated week comes and I practice performing charity in various ways.
5) $$$$$: As a relatively frugal person I obviously choose not to spend that much money in a given week. However, to be more generous to people this week I provided alcohol mostly at my own expense, as well as provided various transportation to people that needed it (including of course an escort service to a celebration on Friday). Choosing to meet people closer to where they live is also another way to be generous to them, while sacrificing perhaps a little bit of gas money.
6) Reward others. With the gift of friendship being as important to me as ever, I obviously am MORE generous to people that are generous to me. Though it’s good to be generous to all, it’s important to keep in mind that you only have a certain amount of money and time to spend in a given week. Though some should be allocated to strangers and charity, the bulk of generosity should be given to your friends and family. That’s why I have emailed out countless poems today.
The End Result: Be generous to others. Be generous to yourself. Be generous for life. I generously give myself an A for the week, and I end with a rather appropriate poem.
If you sit down at set of sun And count the acts that you have done, And, counting, find One self-denying deed, one word That eased the heart of him who heard, One glance most kind That fell like sunshine where it went -- Then you may count that day well spent. But if, through all the livelong day, You've cheered no heart, by yea or nay -- If, through it all You've nothing done that you can trace That brought the sunshine to one face-- No act most small That helped some soul and nothing cost -- Then count that day as worse than lost. - Count the Day Lost by George Eliot |
Next Week: Perseverance & Determination
