People often write to me expressing a desire to live more meaningful lives. It is a yearning that we all experience in different seasons of life. When I write back, this is what I say, “If you want to unleash an endless stream of fulfillment and satisfaction in your life, wake up every morning and try to be more generous today than you were yesterday. A meaningful life is a generous life.”
Generosity is a path that will lead you back to the best of your humanity. The world needs the nobility of your humanity at this very moment. We have multiplied and perfected ways of dehumanizing people. We have woven them into the fabric of society so that many people don’t even realize they are being dehumanized. We have brainwashed others into believing that they have chosen this dehumanized state.
It is time to unleash a massive re-humanization effort. Generosity is by its very nature rehumanizing, because it announces to the world: “I see you. I hear you. I am with you. I care.”
Now, here is today’s generosity habit.
Next time you are at a gathering, focus your emotional intelligence on identifying the person in the room who is hurting the most, or the person who least wants to be there. Go out of your way to spend time with that person and lift his or her spirits.
Matthew Kelly
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