Gracious Giving

We have been blessed to live a life of abundance. It certainly has not always been financial abundance. Abundance for me is a mental state and I project that to others in my conversations and our lifestyle. Early in our marriage many of our friends thought we were affluent financially. We did not have any intention to impress anyone. We just would not allow a poverty consciousness into our thinking and planning.

There are two things that we have been consistent with in our 48 years of marriage: to live with a budget and to set aside a percentage of our income to give to our church and to individuals or families in need. When finances became challenging we always made certain that giving to others was a non-negotiable expense because we considered that a fixed item in our budget.  Travel and entertainment have always been flexible expenses. At times those have had to be reduced to balance our monthly prosperity budget.

Paying it forward is never done with the intention of getting anything in return. It just seems that events happen to pay back the generosity many times over.

It is all about being in the flow. If we allow ourselves to get caught up in negative expectations by always expressing lack and scarcity that’s exactly what will show up. Gratitude attracts abundance. Things continue to happen in our lives that affirm this theory. We have received paid vacations, the right people showing up to give us professional and spiritual guidance when needed, and many small events that keep us in a state of thankfulness for the abundance in our lives.

One of my favorite spiritual and inspirational teachers for the past 25 years has been Dr. Wayne Dyer. He passed away last year. Lately I have been re-reading some of his material. I have every book he published and all of his CDs in my toolbox that I pull out to recharge my inspiration and to be supported in positive thinking.

In his book Manifest Your Destiny, The Nine Spiritual Principles for Getting Everything You Want the following are random sentences about generosity.

“Every single time that you take in a breath and then exhale, you ae engaged in a process of giving and receiving that is vital to the material and spiritual world. The cycle of generous giving and receiving is exactly the same as the very act of breathing. The old saying, “What goes around, comes around,” is much more than pithy homily.  It is a fact of the universe at all levels of awareness. In fact, it is what this whole business of manifesting is all about. A generous heart is one that places 0 limitations on its ability to be generous with others and does not do it for regard or recognition. “
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One of my posted statements on my Dream Board for this year is “I live in a positive environment with people who encourage positive thinking” The people I am surrounded with are living a life of abundance and are models of what generosity is all about.