SITUATIONAL Generosity

April 16, 2012 by The Alternate Economy

As part of this week’s Generosity Challenge, I have decided to participate and post some examples of my own that I have accomplished this week. Although I expected this category to prove to be the easiest, in the end I was surprised. I wouldn’t say that Situational Generosity is difficult, but it does require that we pay attention. It would seem that awareness is key to situational generosity. Participating in situational generosity is as easy and as difficult as identifying an opportunity for generosity and simply saying “yes.” When we pay attention to those around us we will see that there are many opportunities that present themselves. For this week, i have kept a journal of situations that I was presented with, that I decided to say yes to.

Monday – A friend needed some company so I stayed up and chatted with her. Despite the fact that I was feeling tired and it was quite late at night, I could tell that she was feeling lonely so I decided to say yes.

Tuesday – I saw a homeless woman while in the car, and rolled down my window to give her a toonie. Although this is not very much money, this is a good example of being prepared to be generous. I often come to this corner, and find I don’t have any spare change, but this week I made sure to fill my cup holder with some coins.
– I Cooked dinner for my brother while he was at work, Cornish hens…

Wednesday – I bought my friend rubber boots on the way to the farm. She is going to be helping me quite a bit this summer, so I offered to pay for the boots when we arrived at the cash register.

Thursday – When asked by my colleague if I was willing to let him go home early so he could watch the NHL playoffs, I agreed.

Friday – Gave my last doughnut to my brother, even though it was my favorite kind of doughnut.
– After a very busy dinner service, I decided to buy a round of shots for the Kitchen, to spread some of my tips around.

Saturday – I picked up a shift at work, even though I had the night off.
– To make sure neither one of us went home disappointed, my colleague and I shared our tips in a tip pool.

Sunday – On my way to work, I stopped at a bakery and brought in some chocolate croissants for all the staff to share, just to start things off on a nice note.
– When I had my friend over, I made him dinner and drove him home afterwards.

Although you can never really plan some of these particular examples, situational generosity is easy enough when we just remember to say “yes.” By keeping an open mind and an open heart you will find the opportunities are endless.

Category : 8 Week Challenge

Tags : age of aquarius, alternate, alternative, aquarius, astrology, balance, cancer, compassion, economy, emotion, fear, film, foolishness, freedom, gemini, generosity, give, gratitude, greed, happiness, hate, hatred, hope, inheritance, joy, judgement, loss, love, movies, passion, peace, protection, receive, remorse, security, selfish, selfishness, story, thanks, universe, writing

← 1st Week: Generosity, a boat to the other shore

Week 2: Compassion →

12 thoughts on “SITUATIONAL Generosity”

ateachablemom on April 16, 2012 at 10:39 pm said:

Love the reminder to say yes and keep my heart open. It doesn’t mean I can’t have boundaries, just that my first reaction (or second or third cause I’m a slow learner) is a yes. I especially want to remember this with my girls – saying yes without feeling like I have to control how the yes is fulfilled. Yes to connection and being present. Thanks!

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The Alternate Economy on April 18, 2012 at 9:06 pm said:

Boundaries are healthy, but saying yes when the opportunity presents is a healthy way to feel good about yourself as well.

beverleysmith36 on April 17, 2012 at 11:57 am said:

I didn’t get any blog posts to my email yesterday and i obviously missed this one some time ago but what a really good idea.

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The Alternate Economy on April 18, 2012 at 9:05 pm said:

Thanks Beverly, the main challenge is a sticky post on my main site.
beverleysmith36 on April 19, 2012 at 2:34 am said:

okay 🙂

STEPHEN777 on April 17, 2012 at 5:26 pm said:

you’re very right…being aware is the hardest part. When we are in our minds we are not aware of all that is around us. We are too often un-conscious in a conscious world. Love your blog and your courage.

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The Alternate Economy on April 18, 2012 at 9:04 pm said:

Thank you for the encouraging words. I often find I walk past opportunities for generosity without realizing until it is too late. By talking about these things we force ourselves to re-evaluate our daily routine.

sharingitforward on April 17, 2012 at 7:04 pm said:

I’m working with this challenge and was a bit confused about how to start off with the daily situational generosity so thank you for the post. In a world where we are told to say “no” to people because “it’s better for us”, it’s nice to run across blogs like this. I try to live this way so I’m excited about this challenge, hopefully it will open my eyes to flaws that I’m sure I have. Cheryl

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The Alternate Economy on April 18, 2012 at 9:03 pm said:

they are not flaws, rather room for improvement. We all get caught up in life, sometimes it is helpful to have a little reminder.