New Year's Resoultions: Generosity 2016, A Quest

While leaving the 'Mart of Wal' after all the pandering, bell ringing, and collecting for the Christmas season has passed thinking things would get back to 'normal' and people would tighten their purse strings back up, I realized what it was that was stopping me from being generous.

It's about allowing myself to do it, and also reversing my thinking.

I tend to save up my change until I have a round number. I like even numbers and fives. I'm not sure where it came from, but I feel better when I have an even amount in my wallet.

Instead, I need to set aside the extra left overs and search for a place to give them away. If I have given myself permission to give away a certain dollar amount, it frees me up to look for places or people who need it more than me.

 Here are some helpful hints:
http://www.becomingminimalist.com/10-simple-ways-to-become-a-more-generous-person/

In learning/researching about budgeting for giving, they say to pay others first, before your bills. This is completely the opposite of what I do. Once the bills are paid I look at what's left and watch it disappear into various activities or wants. That's selfish.

If it wasn't there in the first place, it can't be spent. 

If I am serious about giving, I have to set aside the amount to give FIRST.  This puts me in the correct mindset. This prioritizes my giving as a forethought and not an afterthought. I have a little pocket in my purse I can use to set aside that 'extra' so that is there for me to give away. It is separate. It has permission to go to those in need.

By waiting to see what I had left, I held fastidiously onto the last bits, seeing only the vast void of nothingness once those last bits were gone. I think if I am able to give first, I might be more willing to part with what I have left.

Turns out, I need to hang out with more generous people.

http://www.becomingminimalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/generous-people-see-differently.jpg

http://www.becomingminimalist.com/more-generosity/  This is a great post on how generous people think differently.

REQUEST FOR GUEST POSTS
I am asking for you, my readers to comment or contact me on social media if you have the desire to guest-post on this topic. I want to meet you! Do you have a story of generosity to encourage and guide me in my quest?

Generosity 2016

There's a lot to be said about generosity. I think I was placed with a certain person because they have things to teach me about generosity. While there are some things they do that upset me, they are more radical than I am in their generosity.

When I daydream about a windfall, winning the lottery, or suddenly inheriting a decent sum of money from a long lost uncle, I often think about the debts I need to pay off, the repairs the house needs, or the new things I would buy that have been on my list for a long time. 

But I was recently reminded that giving without expecting something in return has a way of paying you back.

It's not just being nice to people, it's being generous that earns you favors. You never know when, or how, or who will help you out, so it's a game of patience and chance. Most people are afraid to play that game.

Also, I think there is a fear that people will take and take if you are giving out. Which is why you have to say no to some things and some people.

Saving up for yourself, feeling like you earned the treat, is good. Giving what you can to others to see the delight, the gratefulness, the joy in their eyes is better.

People used to say 'I've done my good deed for the day', or month, or year, but lately that phrase seems to have died off as more and more are saving up what they have against a time of distrust, war, and unrest.

But now is the time to give. Share, donate, volunteer, and provide respite. Be generous above being nice. Sure, you can hold the door for people, help a young mother load her groceries while she has a baby in a carrier strapped to her chest, or return lost wallets all day long, but you're never going to get the satisfaction that true generosity will bring.

I don't yet know where I will begin this new crusade, but I shall make it my new resolution.

#Generosity2016