What does being generous mean? According to the dictionary, it is to be liberal in giving and sharing (source: dictionary.com). So the question is, what does it mean to live generously in life?
Often times, for most of us, life is about gathering and making do with what we have. Much of our waking hours is spent working and essentially gathering, making, or working for the resources in life that allow us to survive. There isn't much room to give and share. And even if we give and share, it is with the idea of giving out of our excess.
Is this truly being generous? It is in a sense. But it fails in fulfilling the definition of being liberal. Being liberal implies that a person would not be counting their beans before sharing nor are they only sharing out of excess. Rather, it gives the impression that their giving and sharing is out of sacrifice rather than out of excess.
If this is the case with being generous, the idea of giving sacrificially, how often are we all truly generous? I would say, this is probably a challenge for all of us. When society is all about 'me' and 'what and how does it benefit me', it creates a baseline not of what is good for others or for the greater good, but rather a promotion of selfishness and narcissism.
And this is the issue that I am trying to bring to light, how can we learn to be truly generous in how we live? And how can we pass this key virtue of life down to our kids?
Maybe the first thing we need to do is be a bit more self-aware. Not the kind of self-awareness of knowing yourself more but rather the kind that you learn to be aware of those around you in relation to yourself.
And just learn to give and have a habit of giving to those in need, to those less fortunate, or just as a kind gesture to a stranger. It's the idea of learning to love our neighbors as ourselves. Care for those around you as you would want to be treated and to be cared for and as you would for yourself. Simple rules here.
And in passing it to our kids, remind them that they are not the center of the universe. Model for them generosity and show them when someone has been generous to you. Let them see what it means to love and to share love to those around you with no strings attached. And let them see you being willing to receive love.
Generosity is a lifestyle. It's a part of how a person lives their life. It is in a sense, a part of a person's worldview or system of belief. In essence, it's the idea of sacrificing for those around you, not for a return but for the genuine wish of giving someone else a better day or world.