Chapter 49

Generosity


The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under
whose shade you do not expect to sit.

Nelson Henderson





When we think of generosity, we might look at the size of the gift or the nobility of the cause. But the true measure of generosity is the condition of the giver’s heart. A generous giver is a person characterized by some attitudes.


Generous givers experience the joy of giving. When they give, it does not feel like a burden but a pleasure. Generous givers model the proverb, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”



In gift giving you must be sensitive to give according to the receiver’s needs or desires and not what one would like to possess for yourself. A few ways of finding out what gift is appropriate are by being attentive to their conversations or by noticing their homes or office space where one can pick up hints of their needs or desires



Giving to charitable causes is the noblest form of generosity, as many time the recipient of your generosity does not know you and so you receive no thanks.


It is also important for you to appreciate the dignity of labour and involve in some form physical work in of support under privileged members of society. Alternatively you can take role to teach a subject of your expertise, or help the handicapped children or adults. Helping criminals find a new calling and luring them away from crime is also a good cause to pursue. Helping the aged who have no one. You will feel good doing so The receiver of care or a gift feels good and this brings forth a spirit of reciprocity and bonds relationships. You as the giver also feel ‘good’.


“The joy of giving” is an expression that has been usually used in a spiritual context. Recent research shows that your act of caring and giving releases oxytocin and dopamine the feel-good hormones. Thus the spiritual adage “give and you shall receive” has also proven to be biologically true.


At the end of life your life it is the thoughts of these acts of your generosity and involvement with the needy, that will give you the satisfaction that your life has been well lived and that it was worthwhile.


In giving, the givers

reward themselves, too.