Changing Your Perspective Through Generosity
01
Aug
Not long ago I was reminded that the world is an infinitely better place when I do not behave as though it revolves solely around me. I was shaken out of my own self-involvement and reminded how extending even a little Generosity changes my perspective and that of others around me. It opens the world to the infinite power of love.
During one of my annual retreats, I was staying at an elevation of 8,300 feet, near the headwaters of the Colorado River. It often takes people three or four days to acclimate at this altitude. After almost a week, however, I was still having terrible difficulties breathing and sleeping. I woke up every few hours and could not return to sleep. I tossed and turned, feeling as though I could not fill my lungs with oxygen.
Was I having a heart attack? Should I go to the hospital? My heart rate immediately shot up at the thought.
Finally I decided to go to nearest medical center. A soon as I arrived and explained what was happening, a booming voice rang out over the public address system calling for a triage nurse to come. I was laid on an emergency room bed and given an oxygen feed. Nurses drew blood, and a doctor took an EKG. My heart was still racing. I felt a sense of doom. My thoughts revolved solely around my problems and the possibility of something being seriously wrong with me.
But during this time I slowly became aware of the many small kindnesses being shown to me. A flattened pillow plumped up. A blanket adjusted over my cold feet. One of the nurses, Gale, brought me a cup of cold water. Then, with her head tilted in concentration, she peppered me with questions about the nature of my book, 8 Habits of Love. She asked what the eight habits were. She whipped out a pencil from the pocket of her scrubs and wrote the title down, saying she would order it as soon as it was published.
In that moment, the essence of the Habit of Generosity came to me. I awoke from a slumber of self-absorption. I realized that I could be just as interested in Gale’s spiritual life as she was in mine, and so I began to ask her questions in return. She confessed that she too had thought about writing a book. It would detail her own path as someone who cares about spirituality in the midst of her activity of nursing.
“You should definitely write that book,” I said. “I’m certain it would help me—and many others too.”
She gave me a radiant smile. Though we still barely knew each other, our mutual Generosity opened up a dam that allowed energy and love to flow between us. We actually established a trust and an intimacy that almost seemed tangible, as though the very air in the room had changed.
Generosity has this powerful effect on us. In taking the energy that we hold inside ourselves and sharing it with the world, that love and positive energy multiplies. When we step outside ourselves and our concerns—whether small or large—and recognize the needs and strengths of others, we find ourselves growing more capable, more interested, more connected, more alive. We relax. We engage.
It turns out, I was fine that day. I needed to drink more water and lower my blood pressure. But the lesson I came away with was far greater than how to take care of myself at altitude. It was a simple but moving exercise in Generosity. A gentle reminder that in extending myself to others, no matter what my circumstances, I could benefit us all. That by stepping out myself by showing Generosity to others, my perspective would change and I would be transported from a place of fear to one of love. That, my friends, is the secret power of Generosity.