Generosity describes in The Oxford Living Dictionary as “the quality of being kind and generous.” Generosity is the human nature of giving without expecting anything in return. This nature comes with birth and goes with death. People are with this natural response to other people’s needs, difficulties, or suffering, kindness, and generosity.
Usually, when we talk about generosity, many people will immediately relate to money. Yes, generous people are generous when spending money, often not to themselves but others. I used to know a man who was quite careful in spending his money. If he didn’t need it, he would never buy. But he was generous to others, to people who needed help. He was a regular donor to several charity organizations. But generosity is not limited to financial aspects.
A generous person would also help give his time to help others. He will be warm in providing encouragement, praise, and support when people feel vulnerable or are discouraged. A generous person usually has a willing spirit. His great joy is to see other people happy. Therefore when giving, he doesn’t have any expectation of receiving anything in return. All he expects back is the smile on other’s faces or the change for the better in the other’s life. The fact is that he finds it challenging to receive. So if a return comes back because of his generous giving, he would be embarrassed and find it hard to take.
A generous person is also generous in accepting criticism, disagreement, and even hatred. He will not be easily offended. His mind often switches to the offenders when he is criticized or even hated. Instead, he would try to understand why it happens, perhaps because someone is under stress or having hardships in life. Instead of hitting back or remembering, he forgives and forgets. He would never hold a grudge against others. Instead, he may look at self-improvement and make an adjustment to fit in with others. In all, a generous person can often put others’ interests beyond himself. But sadly, in our society, or relationships with others, people, on the one hand, need generosity from others. Still, on the other hand, they don’t show enough respect to generous people.
Furthermore, many people take generosity from others as stupidity or for granted. They use and abuse kind hearts. It happens in families, workplaces, social environments, neighbourhoods, relationships, and marriages between men and women.
Many people hurt deeply because of giving and being generous to others. But, it is in their nature, so they can’t change. When someone has a need, or some situation happens, they will respond in the same way. Many people would agree with me, and some people even relate to me about my understanding of generosity. When we look at people by nature, we know that he must be generous to the ones he loves if a person can be generous to others.
Therefore finding someone with this nature becomes almost the most important thing. Let’s look at how a generous person deals with the partner in a relationship or marriage. When two people live together or spend significant time together, the initial excitement from chemistry will not last too well. Every day, they have to deal with many minor issues and cope with their disagreements. That includes mental, physical, financial, social, children, parenting, Etc. Sometimes the problem can be as insignificant as what brand of bread they should buy.
All these minor issues need generous hearts to cope with. A generous person will never use people. He will be happy to contribute his share of responsibilities; He will understand when the other party can not contribute as much as he does. Not just because of commitment, a generous person does everything for one reason: to make his partner happy. As long as it can bring a smile to his partner’s face, he will do it. It may mean he has to forget his own needs or compromise his interests. But he will do it. A generous partner will never be stingy in giving words of praise and encouragement. He will be delighted to see his partner’s achievements. Very importantly, a generous partner forgives. He has a poor memory of criticism. He doesn’t like arguing nor wants to prove himself. In a word, he doesn’t have a big ego. He takes criticism if he makes a mistake. Or he holds the complaint inside by understanding that the partner may suffer from stress or health problems.
I can list so many things that a generous partner can bring to the happiness of married life. However, our challenge is how much we appreciate a generous partner and how much we are long for a generous partner. One of the ugly natures a person has is to take things for granted, especially when we have good people around us. We often think it meant to be, or it is good luck. This ugly nature makes us ungrateful, bullying, abusing generous hearts until it is too late. Therefore I urge singles to open their eyes when searching for generous people. I also encourage people to be more appreciative if they have found a great partner. For happiness, we need them. For lasting happiness, we don’t want to upset them and let them go!
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