Generosity

American Heritage Dictionary: “1. willing to give or share; munificent; unselfish 2. Lacking pettiness or meanness in thought or behavior; magnanimous”

Roget’s Thesaurus: Giving; magnanimous; tolerant; forgiving; benevolent; openhanded; bighearted

So, what does it really mean to demonstrate generosity? I believe that to describe someone as “generous” we are attributing to them all of the above qualities, for if you have ever known a truly generous person, you realize that you are in the presence of someone very special. Their hearts and hands are open; they do not judge; they are kind. They’re neither meek nor weak; they simply show true generosity of heart and spirit at every turn… and in their presence, I am in awe, and feel the lack of their qualities and the desire to develop them. They make it look easy, and maybe it is easy for them, maybe some people are simply born that way, but I tend to think that it takes a lifetime of trying and learning to give freely, to care and to share. Like many other things, it is an ideal for us all to strive for, and whether we reach it or not, it’s the trying that counts.

A very generous person opened her heart to me recently, and I am the lucky recipient of some concrete results of her magnanimity. She didn’t think it was any big deal, but that’s probably because humility is yet another quality of a truly generous person. Because of her I now have reading material that should last me five years… and I have three wonderful, matching, brand new storage chests… and I have a milk pitcher that matches perfectly with a cookie jar that I’ve had forever… and I have a wonderful antique yardstick that still has the original metal ends on it… and on and on. There’s no way you can adequately thank a person like that, much as I would like to!