From Gratitude to Generosity: A Thankful Heart

In Southern California, it takes a while for it to begin feeling like fall. But, ever-so-gradually, the weather begins to shift, the leaves begin to change, the air starts to get crisper, the Santa Ana winds start blowing in, and the nights get cooler. Despite some 80-degree days here and there, by mid-November the spirit of fall is in the air. With fires in fireplaces, pumpkin spices filling recipes and fragrances, and fantasy football leagues underway, the spirit of fall is just about as palpable as a pumpkin spiced late. Today marks a week from Thanksgiving, and just as the holiday swiftly approaches us, calendars may start to fill up and schedules may begin to get hectic. There may be errands to run, dinners to prepare, arrangements and décor to create, homes to fill, and mouths to feed. In a hectic and maybe chaotic time, I want to prepare our hearts for the meaning we may find in the holiday.Thanksgiving is a time when we can surround ourselves with family and friends, and when we can open our homes to be filled with love, joy, and gratitude. Often, we associate the day with this sense of gratitude: we take time to reflect on what and who we are thankful for, we express our gratitude to our loved ones, and we act out of that gratitude that we have for others and for all the things that have filled up and have added meaning and significance to our lives. In this time of reflection and of thankfulness, what should our response be? How could our actions create a cradle of influence around this holiday, so that our actions are not just attributed to one day, one time, or one family dinner, but towards our every-day? How can we respond and act out of our gratitude?That is where generosity comes in. You see, gratitude and generosity go hand in hand. Our state of mind most certainly influences our actions. Having a heart and mind that is rooted in thankfulness, then, nearly dictates the way that we treat those around us. The feeling we associate with gratitude, “a feeling of appreciation or thanks” or “the state of being grateful”, gives way to the action of generosity, “the quality of being kind, understanding, and not selfish: the quality of being generous”. Being generous, then, is the action in which we are “freely giving or sharing money and other valuable things; providing more than the amount that is needed or normal; showing kindness and concern for others”.Over this next week, I hope to create a discussion in which we realize what gratitude and generosity mean to each of us, and in which we realize how this sense of gratitude empowers us to live out of a state of generosity. But, if we wish to see an outpour of generosity through our actions, we must first focus on the state of our minds and our hearts. You see, it is the state of our hearts that dictates our actions and impacts the profoundness of our actions. If we create a condition of gratitude in our hearts, then our actions will display that sense of thankfulness and kindness towards others. Eventually, we will see that thankfulness transform into generosity. We will notice that through our expression of thankfulness, we begin to put the wellness of others before the wellness of ourselves.But, first, we must focus on the condition of our hearts and we must prepare the state of our minds. We must allow gratitude to be rooted in the depths of our hearts and become prevalent in the workings of our minds. If we want to see a transformation in the way that we treat others, we must inspire transformation in the way that we think of others. When we allow gratitude to rule our hearts and our minds, something changes. We begin to rid ourselves of selfishness, of self-seeking ambitions, of vanity, and of pride, and we, instead, assume selflessness, compassion, and empathy. When we reorient our thoughts through this prism of gratitude, we begin to place the condition of others before the condition of ourselves; we begin to think of others before we think of ourselves; we begin to care for others before we care for ourselves. When we allow gratitude a foothold into the workings of our hearts and minds, when we allow it enough room to reorient our hearts and minds, we may find that what started with one thankful thought and one generous feeling has transformed into an entirely new outlook and a wholly different attitude. The spirit of Thanksgiving, then, does not just become one day of thankfulness, but an entire lifestyle of thankfulness.As we prepare for this season, let us deeply assess the workings of our hearts and minds so that we do not just assume this sense of gratitude for one day, or one holiday, but that this sense of gratitude begins to dictate how we live our lives. Let us allow gratitude to make its home in our hearts and minds so that our actions will instantaneously and organically follow. Let us realize that this day of thankfulness is a mere instant in a lifestyle of thankfulness, and let us allow this lifestyle of thankfulness begin to transform the way that we treat all those around us.