I was having an interesting conversation the other day with a small group of people about generosity. I?d love to share some thoughts with you, and I must start with the idea of ?abundance? before I get to ?generosity.?
Most often, if you ask someone what abundance is, they?ll say ?Lots o? money, baybee!…obscene amounts of green.? And, indeed, financial prosperity is one form of abundance.
However, what I hear over and over again is that if folks don?t have ?enough money? (that word ?enough? tends to be a very slippery and elusive measure), then they see their lives as lacking abundance. With all due respect, this is waaayyyy off the mark and it creates a lot of suffering for us, mentally.
A good definition of abundance is: when you experience joy, health, happiness, sense of purpose, and vitality. It?s abundance of love, relationships, joy, health, energy, spirit?.and yes, money?in that it can assist in providing us with abundance of experience.
It?s important to understand that we can have wealth in our bank account, and poverty of spirit. Which feels pretty awful. This isn?t, to be clear, an ?anti-money? musing. Money is just money. My take is that it?s just as silly to be ?anti-money? as it is to be ?anti-oxygen.? You can kill yourself with oxygen and you can heal yourself with oxygen. Oxygen is just oxygen. Like oxygen, money is neither good nor bad, and it doesn?t signify true wealth or poverty. If we have abundance of money, it?s what we DO with that money that brings us joy, love, and generosity?or fear, contraction, and grasping.
So, back to that conversation I was having. Someone mentioned that they would like to give back more, but their financial situation left little or anything ?extra? to give back to the cause that moved them. They wanted to be more generous, but just couldn?t afford to. I offered up a different take on the idea of generosity, that seemed to be helpful to him.
Real generosity is generosity of the spirit. It?s that fantabulous feeling that you have when you just feel so happy with all that you DO have in your life, that you are totally on deck to share your overflow. There are soooo many ways to give of yourself, without money coming into the equation at all. You can give time, attention, listening, compassion, talent, service, space, skill, or wisdom. You can share your abundance of spirit. This type of giving is a wonderfully rich way to give, and it tends to be felt deeply by the recipient(s). In short, there?s an inherent exchange of spirit that just feels super-awesome for all involved. Abundance all around.
So, if you?re inclined to be of service, please know that there are many ways to do just that. Writing a check to The Splendiferous Charity can be super-helpful, for sure, and so can donating any of the ?free? services in the paragraph above. Where there?s a will, there?s a way!
You can also fill your own cup in ways that help you feel whole, and healthy, and awesome-sauce, so that you have plenty of overflow to share! Join us for the Vibrant New YOU Retreat on Sep 29 ? Oct 2 at Spiritfire Retreat Center in western Massachusetts during New England fall brilliance. Abundance of health shifts EVERYTHING else!
Reserve your spot HERE before our gorgeous, intimate retreat center fills up.
Create Vibrant Health: BodyMindSpirit?!
With love & abundance,
Laurie
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