Generosity of Spirit

 There is overwhelming evidence that the higher the level of self-esteem, the more likely one will be to treat others with respect, kindness and generosity.-Nathaniel Branden

What is your potential for generosity? How far are you willing to take it?  Surprisingly enough, just like most everything it seems, your potential for generosity is rooted in your self-esteem.

It is an absolute act of generosity to donate financially to a cause you believe in. The only way charities stay in ‘business’ is by generous donations from kind people who believe in their cause. How far are you willing to go with your generosity of spirit?

I recently read a book by Carolyn Myss entitled, Acts of Power. In it she tells a story where one of her clients was telling her in all honesty that if a friend were in trouble and asked him for $1000.00 dollars to pay bills and put food on his table for a month he wouldn’t blink and eye. He would write him a check on the spot. But, he said, if he asked me for the same amount of money to invest in a business he was starting I probably wouldn’t do it. Why she asked him? He replied very honestly and said, “Because I will help someone get by, but I don’t want to help someone pass me by.”

Interesting. Do you have enough self-esteem to not only watch people in your life exceed you in business or sports or education, whatever the case may be, but to also support, inspire and encourage them to do so? That is one self-assured person! It’s funny because if you don’t know someone, if there is no energetic connection to a person then his or her success potential has no effect on you what so ever. I don’t personally know Steve Jobs, Jay-Z, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lady GaGa or Graeme McDowell, (the nice Irish lad who won the open last night!) so their success means nothing to me except to admire it from afar. Would I be able to have the same objective opinion about one of my best friends or family members attaining the same level of success?

This struggle starts early on and is ingrained in our psyche. When you see little children at a birthday party and finally one of the little guests can’t stand to watch his or her friend or sibling open any more brightly wrapped gifts and they burst into tears crying 'It's not FAIR!'. We can’t do that as adults even though we sometimes feel like it. Can you imagine going over to see your friends new remodeled kitchen and after taking the tour you just burst into tears? “Its not FAIR!” Wailing as your friend looks on at you horrified. Haha. That is crazy, but that is also human nature!

Even worse, ever feel a pang of HA! When someone you are supposedly friends with has some miss-fortune? Not like bone cancer miss-fortune but maybe something that in your mind brings them down a notch? Guess what, what you put out is what you get in return so every time you have a negative thought or you direct negative energy to someone, you get it right back to you. Is it worth it?

Humans are funny that way though. We’ll be best friends as long as I’m Oprah and you are Gayle! You stay right down there and I’ll stay up here above you and we won’t have any problems! Can two Oprah’s co-exist? Or, better yet, do you have the self-esteem to be Gayle? Do I have the confidence and self-esteem that no matter what anyone else does, to know who I am and be happy with myself? The way I see it is if you are my friend or a member of my family and your doing better than that positive energy is going to be surrounding me as well and I’ll do better and so on and so on. I will strive to be as generous of spirit as possible. If what you put out comes back to you, it’s a win win, right?