Heartfelt Generosity

"I knew you'd hassle me so I was ready!"

• Marlene Maag
  

 

Heartfelt Generosity

 

It was an early Saturday morning, but I was gratified to see lots of my friends working at full speed. Truck after truck pulled in to the parking lot where we were setting up. Each truck was filled with donated goods. Some of the trucks even pulled trailers packed with even more goods. I was amazed.

Though the site was amazing to me, what amazed me more was that so many people had banded together of their own free will. We had been working for weeks to plan this event and now the results were plain to see. The location, goods, talent and time had all been combined so we could raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

I arrived a little later than I had planned so everything was well underway when I arrived. And after some time had passed my friend Marlene came walking up. As she approached, I couldn't help but feel a little devious and have some fun at her expense since she had been the genesis of everything around us.

"Nice you could come!" I said.

"I knew you'd hassle me so I was ready for you!" She quipped.

She had gotten up at 4:30 a.m. that morning to begin the day's event and then left for a few minutes to go and teach a class. Now she was here to give the rest of her day and evening! But she was also here to give one more thing that would go unnoticed by all of the people who would come and participate in this huge yard sale; unbridled generosity.

There's a difference between generosity and forced giving; it's the contrast between hope, love & charity and compulsion. As I looked around at my friends during the day that difference was clear. They were all smiling, happy and peaceful. They were giving of themselves through their heart. Now I think I understand how the common saying, "heartfelt gift" came in to being.

Living a heartfelt life means surrounding yourself with people who have the desire to make a difference in the lives of those around them and then acting. Each individual makes the determination to take action and to work together. The results of this individual freedom are unmatched and can't be duplicated in any other way.

You can experience the unmatched joy of living a heartfelt life if you'll just take four small steps. First, make the decision to be a beacon of faith, hope and charity. Second, surround yourself with others who choose to live by this principle. Third, select a cause to champion and finally, commit a little time each week to take action.

I've found that doing a little bit over a long period of time makes a much larger impact than trying to do something huge just one time. So make sure you give yourself plenty of room to let your heart grow into this principle. Start today!