^^ Because, well, a post just feels better with a picture!
A few weeks ago, I ran into a family friend. We got to talking and she was telling me about life. She needed some money for something critical, but was having to save up for it. Now, when I say "some" money, I really do mean very little. We by no means are flowing in cash, but could have easily covered something like this had the need arisen. That really struck me. There are people in this world, people I think of as equals, that really because of various circumstances can't even cover minimal "bumps in the road".
Most of the time, the "generous" things that we do don't have to be grand gestures to mean a lot to a person; to brighten their day. It's randomly paying for someone's coffee. It's taking a friend some ice cream. It's buying McDonalds for a homeless person. I'm trying not to over think it and just do it...you know, spontaneously.
You can read more about my journey of generosity in these past posts - why generous?, generous with my time, generous with my words and generous with myself.
That night, I really felt convicted to give this family friend some money. The next day, I went and found her. We chatted, then at the end, I handed her some money. She cried and told me how generous it was. But really, I felt humbled and honored. I felt humbled because my life truly is better than many. And I felt honored to be in a position to help her out.
Over the past few weeks, I have been thinking of the concept of being spontaneously generous. At the beginning of my journey of generosity, I planned out my acts of being generous. I got giddy planning them. But somewhere along the way, it has become more natural and just happens. I like that. I feel like spontaneously doing something, without much thought, is a character trait. I would really like to have the character trait of being generous.
Anyway, so I have been stewing over the whole spontaneously generous thing. Then, yesterday a circumstance literally fell in my lap for me to be helpful and generous with a good friend. In my act, I really felt like I sacrificed little, but I know it blessed her a lot. And I am thankful that I could have done so.
You can read more about my journey of generosity in these past posts - why generous?, generous with my time, generous with my words and generous with myself.
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That is something I really need to work on too. I give to charities and help out when something arises, but it's normally because something is presented to me. I should really try to be spontaneous in my charity as well. Good point.
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