From Gratitude to Generosity: Thankfulness in Action

Last week, we discovered how generosity would transform our hearts and minds in preparation for this season of Thanksgiving. As we look forward to this week, spending time with family and friends, we should now look to discover how this gratitude will manifest itself in our actions.As I was exiting the freeway today, there was a homeless man holding a sign on the side of the road. I am sure, by now, we all know the feeling. As the red light drags on, not seeming to change anytime soon, you begin to feel a twinge of anxiety, guilt, or discomfort. You may reach to turn up the radio a little louder, you may turn your gaze in the opposite direction, or you may just wait, hoping for the light to turn green a little quicker. But, something transformative happened during those minutes that I was stopped at that light. I saw the man pass by me and as I looked back in my rearview mirror, I saw a person from the car behind me give him some money. Then, I saw him cross over to receive money from another person in the car next to me. You could call it social peer-pressure, but something in my heart changed and within seconds I found myself giving some spare dollars to the man. The decision I made to follow suit of those complete strangers had to be more than social peer-pressure, though. It had to be something deeper, something that has the capacity to transform hearts and remind us of our shared humanity. It had to be the product of generosity. You see, it was the generosity of others that inspired me to be generous with what I had. It was almost as if the hearts of those complete strangers opened up a wave of communication between us all: reminding us of our shared humanness and encouraging us to act out of compassion.It takes only one drop in a pool of water to cause a ripple effect. Whether that drop is monumental or miniscule, it still creates a change in the waters. That is how our generosity impacts those around us. It takes one action, one decision, to affect a multitude of change. It takes one heartfelt response to change the hearts of others. It is this generosity that we share and exchange with our fellow humans around the world that binds us all together. Our actions, then, are a response of the condition of our hearts. What started with allowing gratitude to transform the depths of our hearts finishes with this sense of thankfulness that begins to manifest itself in our actions. When we allow gratitude to transform the condition of our hearts, the thankfulness in thought begins to manifest itself in our actions.A thankful heart does not find itself complete in the confines of our minds, but it is set free in the sincerity of our actions. Then, when we allow our responses to flow out of our thankfulness, when we allow our actions to mimic the gratitude that has transformed our hearts, we will notice a difference in the way that we act towards one another. When gratitude grips our hearts and generosity claims our actions, we will begin to perceive of one another in a drastically different way; we will begin to place the needs of others above the needs of ourselves. This way that we reorient the priorities in our lives, in placing the wellness of another before the wellness of our own selves, becomes our trademark.Whether our action is big or small, it adds to the culmination of all our actions in a way that makes a lasting impact. You see, when we act generously, we inspire others to act generously. The impact of our generosity, then, stretches far beyond its immediate recipient, but it has the capacity to transform communities. Our generosity can also transform selfishness to selflessness, weakness to strength, greed to compassion, hopelessness to hopefulness, and despair to restoration. When we continue to send ripples of change into our communities, we will begin to see the world change. When we unite the total of our ripple effects, the collectivity of our actions, we will make generosity the emblem of our generation.So, as we approach this holiday of thankfulness, as we are reminded of every person and experience that has impacted our lives for the better, let us wear this emblem of generosity with pride, and let us encourage those around us to do the same. With our hearts full of gratitude and our actions marked with generosity, let us inspire others to give freely and love deeply. In light of this year’s holiday, here are some ways that you can send out your ripple effect in your communities:Donate or volunteer at a local mission or food bank:Midnight MissionWestside ThanksgivingFood on FootExpress your gratitude to a soldier serving in our armed forces,And, if anything else, you can simply open your heart or open your home to someone in need of community and friendship this holiday season. Happy Thanksgiving to you all! 

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.