be generous

God has gifted me with the heart to be generous in many areas of my life. Praise be to Him that allows me the ability to be generous.

best thing you can do in life is give to someone who doesnt have. it can be anything, just something to better someone else. and in return of bettering someone elses life you better your own.

I feel happy when I am giving things to others.
But sometimes people feel uneasy as they don’t want to owe me too much.
How to erase such kind of concern?
Hope anyone can teach me.

I grew up never having to share and it just doesn’t come naturally to me. I’m quick to respond – if someone asks. But that doesn’t define a generous spirit.

I’ve tackled big problems before but I find this one a show-stopper. I’m always like two days later saying “Oh crap, I shoulda…” OK, sometimes its only 20 minutes. Point is, its ALWAYS after the fact.

This isn’t about giving to charity or picking up the check. I can do that no prob. How bout, when your girl friend asks you for a ride somewhere? My immediate answer is NO, until I slow down and realize its no imposition and might even be fun.

Whats with that immediate, unthinking NO?

This is easy to do in ways like giving money to charity or to a panhandler, but I need to think of other ways, too. Giving gifts is one way. Giving time to other people.

I went to Khau Prabhi Han on the Thai-Cambodian border yesterday. There were all these Cambodian children there selling trinkets, cigarettes, postcards, etc… My friend Toy spent some time talking to the soldiers and found out that during the 50 weeks a year that the park is not open for tourists, the people in the Cambodian village at the base of the cliffs can’t buy food.

I spent about three hundred baht on postcards to try to help out a little, but I still felt awful leaving the place. Maybe it’s part of the scam… the kids tug at your heart… the soldiers talk up the poverty… I don’t know.

In any case, the whole experience made me realize how easily I forget that Thailand, even Isan, is affluent compared to Cambodia, Mianmar and Lao. Therefore, my goal is to donate more of my farang money to helping these people out.