Week 2 - Day 2 [Charity]

Charity.  Generosity.  Giving.  Nice idea.  Nice people are charitable.  Generous people give money to others, to projects and to institutions.  Charity makes things possible that we all enjoy - the zoo; the symphony; our pastors, priests, rabbis and other clerics.  I've always thought of myself as a nice person, a generous person.  I'm not so sure that is true.  I think I look out for myself first, and almost exclusively...I think.  I figured out how much I've given away this past year.  Something around 2.5% of my take-home pay.  Pathetic.

The reason I've always thought of myself as generous is because I feel like giving money away or spending money on other people when I have plenty, like when I've just been paid, before I pay my bills.  In reality, however, I hardly ever act on those feelings, and once the bills are paid and there really isn't much left, then I hoard it for myself.  And I'm even more stingy with my time.  I work hard at my job and I work extra in the evenings doing freelance web development jobs, so I tell myself that I just don't have enough time to share any with others.

So what does charity have to do with living a successful life?  I Believe that I am always short money and short time because I do not freely give of my time and money.  And constantly feeling like I don't have enough time or money certainly doesn't feel like I'm living a successful life.  Now, I fully understand that there's more to balancing my budget than just wantonly giving away money, but I'm guessing that my attitude of scarcity is adversely affecting my ability to manage my life successfully.

Issues I'll tackle as the week progresses:

• Sowing & Reaping
• Intentional Giving vs. Spontaneous Giving
• Giving when it hurts (or when it's scary)