My generosity is my greatness

Some people will say "I don't have enough, I can't give out now", some also say " I worked for my damn money! I can't give it out" well it's unfortunate they are ignorant of what can take them to greater heights. I want to tell you that Generosity is the true way to success, greatness and popularity. From Latin, Popularity is called Popularitas and it means "an effort to please the people".

 Most people think popularity comes by the achievements they acquire or the wealth they possess.
 When I look at the life of Bill Gates, I realised and concluded that the greatness of a man is not by what he receives but by what he gives. The greater your giving, the greater your living. You want to be popular? Be Gerenous!

Generosity is changing one's focus from self to others. If your focus is on others and not yourself alone, they will all turn their focus at you. When you are generous you become prosperous and famous. The question is, what can I give? Well, out of many, I highlighted few things you can give. You can give your;

• Money
• Talents
• Time
• Knowledge
• Assests and lots more.

If you think giving is not helpful, let me share with you 5 reasons you should give. Giving is important because:

Giving helps the giver

This is the most important reason you should give. When you help others, you can't help but benefit. I will share a little experience I had. I went to a tutorial center to receive lectures for an exam I was to write in February. The classes holds February to February and I joined them 1st of November, 2017 which means, I had 3 months and some weeks to the exam. Along the line I noticed a particular subject physics 102 has not been really thought and no one understood it. So I got a textbook on that subject to read and understand. Then I decided to teach them what I have read, they were all understanding and it encouraged me to read more meanwhile I'd never for once like anything in physics. So I said to myself, "You can't light the path of others without casting light on your own." That's exactly how giving helps the giver, it betters the life of a giver just as teaching helped me to know more.

Giving adds value to others

Who is not happy when he adds value to others? I was glad every moment I finished teaching them, it makes me feel great.When you add value to others, it doesn't remove anything from you. At first I thought if I teach these people, they will be better than me but they were not. Don't think a part of you will go when you add value to others, it's not true. Whoever you add value to will help you in one way or the other later or sooner. Just like in Chemistry, covalent bonding is about sharing electrons, the sharing didn't subract any electrons from the electron rich element. How you think about investments is how you should take adding value to others too.

When you share your knowledge and ideas, it adds value to others, you might not have money to give but there is a rich man out there who needs someone to impact him, if you don't share knowledge you might miss such opportunities.

Giving is not loosing

This is exactly what kills the generosity of many people, they all think they are loosing when they give. Giving is like investment, when you want to invest, your money reduces first. There must be a deduction before an addition. There must be a decrease before an increase. That is how giving works, haven't you seen it in the life of Windows CEO Bill Gates, he gives yet emerges as one of the top richest human. If you think giving is loosing, see what Andrew Carnegie, the steel magnate who gave away millions of dollars siad:

No man becomes rich unless he enriches others

This is a statement made from a rich man, so what else or from who else will you learn that giving is not loosing. Even the holy book which is the Bible says "Give and it shall be given unto you".

Giving helps make a living

Living your dear life without giving is not a proper way to live a life. Ruth Smeltzer siad:

You have not lived a perfect day, even though you have earned your money, unless you have done something for someone who will never be able to repay you

It is unfortunate people think they are the owners of their money, assests and wealth, so they can't give a little of it out but the truth is, some people suffered themselves just for you to make that money you claim to own and yet you still can't give a dime. The greater your giving, the greater you're living. US president Woodrow Wilson said it this way

 You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with a greater vision, with a finer spirit of home and achievement. You are here to enrich the world and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand

 He said you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand meaning when you think you are making a life by only spending, eating and so on for yourself alone, you are only gonna ruin your life. You must live for others if you wish to live for yourself.

Giving suppresses depression to make you happy

No one likes to be around people who only think only of themselves. In contrast, nearly everyone enjoys being around people who are giving. When you're occupied with giving to others and helping others to succeed, it drives away sadness. And that not only makes the world a better place, it makes the giver happier. As the Roman poet Seneca said:

No man can live happily who regards himself alone, who turns everything to his own advantage

I have also learnt that "No man lives happier than a person who has generously given out to the needy in a day."

Patience

Patience is the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, problems or sufferings without becoming annoyed or anxious. 

  Read More

And then if you feel you want to be generous but don't know how to, let me help you with two important tips:

Give others your money

John C. Maxwell made me understand that wherever your money is, that's where your attention goes. Haven't you found that to be true? If you invest heavily in the stock market, you probably check the financial page or your earning statements frequently. The scriptures from the Bible confirms that when it said "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."                                                        

                                                                                                      If you begin to give your money to people who really hunger, thirst and are deeply in need of it, you will care about people more. And that will help to foster a more generous spirit in you. If you wait until you feel like it to give, you may wait forever. I sat down one day to think about these so called celebrities that buy expensive things just for us to recognize or know how rich they are, they think they are making waves, but it's painful that the people they think they are showing their riches to have long way forgotten about whatever they had bought. No one cares about anything that doesn't add value to them. Why not give out your  money and see how your riches will be felt. Give others yourself

Give others yourself

Martin Luther King Jr. said:

Life's most persistent and urgent question is, "What are we doing for others?

What do people value more than your money? The answer is your time and attention. Just like nothing can take the place of a spouse's affection. People also believe that a good mentor is more valuable than a mere monetary reward. And this is because, mentors give their time, love and attention to others. When you give the gift of yourself, you are being as generous as you can be. Rabbi Harold Kushner said

The purpose of life is not to win. The purpose of life is to grow and share. When you come to look back on all that you have done in life, you will get more satisfaction from the pleasure you brought to other people's lives than you will from the times you outdid and defeated them 

When you invest in other people's life just for the sake of seeing them great and blossom, with no thoughts to any benefit you might receive despite their status, you will be the kind of generous person others want to be around.

Take away

I have really said a lot, but if you think all these doesn't concern you and you feel you are generous enough, I want you to know that. People give not from the tip of their purses, but from the bottom of their hearts. So how do you give? And if you desire to  become a more generous person, don't wait for your income to change, change your heart. When you do that, you automatically become a giver regardless of your income or circumstances. Make that desire to become a giver. Sometimes, you want to give but something holds you back, learn to fight and disobey that spirit by focusing on the reasons you should give which I have already explained earlier.

And lastly, my word from me to you is
Don't give to those who already have because you want to make a name, give to those who don't have and they will  make you a name.

Note these two laws:

• There must be a reduction before an addition
• There must be a decrease before and increase

The prayers of the needy to the giver are always enormous!
Live to Give.