Everyone has a gift.  What is yours?  And are you willing to give that gift without any reciprocation?  Are you willing to walk up to a stranger and give them your gift without ever expecting anything in return?  Are you willing to give and not receive?

Merriam-Webster defines a gift as “notable capacity, talent, or endowment.”  And as “something voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation.”  They also define generosity as “the quality or fact of being generous.”

The act of giving your gift to someone else in a generous manner is what I call “Gifterosity”.

So, what is this all about you ask?  It’s about how willing are you to pass along your gift and not be concerned about receiving.  Do you do something day in and day out that others may benefit from?  I heard a story of a lady who likes to cook.  She decided to cook a little bit extra each meal and freeze some to give to others who may be in need.  Not a big task, but something that can really impact others.  I also heard about a man who sets aside $25 each week to give to others.  A gift card, a gift, something simple.  He enjoys watching the reaction of those who receive his gift and says it makes both their day and his.  Your gift does not have to be miraculous, but the recipient may consider the gesture a miracle.

We don’t spend much time on this earth in the overall scheme of things.  So don’t hoard your gifts and go through life only wishing to receive.  Our lives can be much more rewarding and fulfilling if we give.  A friend of mine last Sunday told me that life is fuller if we give rather than if we just receive.  What if we all tried to give as much as we can?  How can we help make our and others lives better by doing so?

It takes a human being one-third of a second to blink their eye. 

If you look at how long we live on this earth compared to how long earth has been around, that ratio is significantly less than the one-third of a second or the time it takes to blink your eye.  So, do you want your life to be just a blink of an eye where you leave no impact around you, or do you want to make a difference in the time you have here on earth?

Think of some of the people you most admire throughout the course of history.  I bet those people did something generous.  They gave their time and energy into making the world a better place.  They had a gift and used their time on earth sharing their gift with others.  They probably did it without the need to get anything in return.  What if you could model that type of behavior in your own life?  How would that change your life?

We have a saying around here at work and that is to be generous with your assumptions.  I like to take that a few steps further and say be generous with your acts, your thoughts and your words.  What can I do to reach out and help make someone’s day?  I try to do that by being generous.  Generous with my thoughts, my acts and my behaviors.  I don’t have to go out of my way to do it, I just make it part of my day.

Be generous with your acts or gifts. 

Make random acts of generosity so others can hopefully walk away with a better outlook on life.  I don’t know if I now or will ever leave a very big impact, but at least it helps me make it through the day.  I enjoy a better life by giving my gifts to others.  Helping others to live a fuller life.

Be generous with your gifts.  Your gifts of kindness, support, humility, thoughts and pass along what you have learned about life to others.  What is it you do that is special to you, that others might benefit from if you were to pass it along?  I believe that will not only enhance and enrich their lives but also yours.  Take your gift and be generous with it and increase your wealth of happiness in return.  Make this little bit of time on earth something you can be very proud of and something very fulfilling rather than wasting your precious time here on earth living only within your own life.

Measure your success by what you have given and not by what you have received.

Gifterosity!  I bet if you focus on this, you may be onto something here!

 

Allyn Vaughn

 

Photo by Jony Ariadi on Unsplash