Generosity is not giving me that which I need
more than you do, but it is giving me
that which you need more than I do.
~~kahlil gibran
Generosity of spirit requires trust–faith that what you give will be received and appreciated and /or conveys assistance or good, and belief that in giving you will not go lacking.
Certainly we must give within our means, not more than we can afford. Altruism does not ask that we put ourselves at risk. To do that places us in a position to lack the ability to give in the future. And no one wants that.
And yet we cannot always wait until comfort abounds as a time to give.
Giving asks us to sacrifice doubt that we will one day wish for or need that which we gave away. It asks that we trust that the graciousness of spirit we display towards others will one day find its way back towards our path in life, that we will experience receiving from others that which we cannot provide ourselves.
Acknowledging that we cannot always provide what we need goes against the grain of conventional wisdom in America. The American work ethic emphasizes providing for one’s own self, not looking to others for assistance. It stresses strength, versus weakness, youth versus old age, independence versus interdependence.
And yet life is a circle.
“Once and adult, and twice a child.”
This is how the old folks, elders of the small town community near the farm where I grew up in rural North Carolina, described the human life cycle. We are born an infant, grow into the pinnacle of adulthood and then descend into old-age, that forms another round of infancy, much like adolescence does toddlerhood.
This frightens many, but only to the extent to which we are and have been unable to accept the facts and facets of life, should we be lucky, or unlucky enough to live at least five decades or more.
The ability to give to others, despite the doubts of growing scare of that which we give away, allows for an abundance of investment in the future, a future that if lived long enough will grant us a hailstorm of needs.
Dependence.
Independence.
Interdependence.
Theses characterize the dynamics of the various stages of human development and the individual life cycle.
My daughters give so much to me, as I, their mother, have given to them.
What greater reason to give than to have invested in others so that we can later receive? _______________________________