A GENEROUS SPIRIT

'If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one.' Mother Teresa

I'm often taken aback at the generosity of others. Not just friends, but strangers too.

In my work I come into contact with lots of people and I've noticed recently that all of them share a generosity of spirit. So many want to give back to their community, most care about making a difference to the people around them and all are generous in what they are willing to share with me. I've noticed too, that people who don't necessarily have a lot to give are often the very people giving the most.

Generosity is an interesting thing. To be generous, we need to feel that we have something to give, we have to want to be giving and we generally need to trust that our generosity will be well received.

Some people hold back from giving because they are genuinely depleted...completely drained because they feel that all they've done is give of themselves. Others don't give because they come from a mentality of scarcity, thinking there's not enough to go around so they clutch what they have tightly to their chests. And others don't give because they doubt the value of what they have to offer.

Sadly, in each of these cases, the lack of generosity has its biggest impact on the person who's not being giving. When you give of yourself, you get something back. It might not be immediate and it may not be in the same form, but it happens. When you open up the possibility that there is more than enough of everything to go around (money, time, food, shelter) you not only want to enrich other people's lives by sharing your own good fortune but you create the possibility that your own life can be abundant in every way. And when you believe in yourself enough to trust your instincts, you'll know that even the smallest act of generosity will be well received.

Think about where you're most 'stingy'. Is it with time, love, patience or money? And give of yourself...today, in even the smallest of ways.

• Set up a regular payment to a charity of your choice
• Cook a meal for a friend who is overworked or unwell
• Buy your partner a bunch of tulips
• Take your child on an outing to a place of their choice
• Remember someone's birthday and post them a card that will arrive right on the day
• Write a friend a letter telling them what you love about them

ON A PERSONAL NOTE

It was my birthday just over a week ago so I guess I'm feeling even more like the world is a generous place because of that. What I find interesting though is the generosity that arises from the simplest and sometimes the most unexpected places.

Like the homemade cards both of my daughters made me that they'd taken the time to write in, the flower picked from our garden that Chris put on the tray when he bought me breakfast in bed (I know...I'm spoilt!).

Like the fact that my sister not only gave me a generous gift and flowers but insisted on taking me to dinner. And that the lovely girlfriends I worked with years ago still remember every year, that two of our closest friends were willing to be extravagant with us and dine out for a beautiful meal, that a girlfriend of more than twenty years took me to dinner and it feels just like it did when we were in our twenties, that another cooked a beautiful meal for us...and so it goes on.

The thing that stood out most to me is that often the people who have the least, give the most. Whether it's time or money they have little of, all of my friends are extraordinarily generous.

We are happy for you to reproduce our articles as long as they remain intact and contain the author's details as follows:

'Kate James is a work life balance coach, writer and speaker. She works with professional people who want to enhance their quality of life by making the right career and life choices. You can find Kate at www.totalbalance.com.au.'