Generosity feels Great

​Don't you love generosity? When we have the opportunity to be generous ourselves and being on the receiving end of someone else's generosity, both feel great.  I have been thinking lots about generosity lately. I seem to be seeing beautiful generous people everywhere recently. It is so funny when you are on the lookout for something, you begin to see it all over the place, good and bad. So why not focus on the positive!  

We were fortunate enough to be invited to a MS charity fundraising ball on the weekend. The event was organised by generous twins, Millie and Sarah to raise money for MS research.  Their mother, and my friend Antoinette, has had MS since before they were born.  And raise money they sure did, half a million dollars! I was struck by the generosity of so many people there. Not just those donating money and buying auction items but the donors of prizes organisers, volunteers and others who had given their time freely and shared their expertise over the last twelve months and on the night. And I am sure there were many more behind the scenes people who gave generously of their time, money and resources too. Other acts of generosity were apparent too, including smiles, compliments, kindness, expressions of gratitude, sharing of stories of inspiration, humility, gratitude and courage, and support. 

It was such fun getting ready for the ball. I felt a bit like Cinderella, in need of a spruce up. My hairdresser friend Jenny, came to my rescue and cut and styled my hair. She did a great job which left my family wondering what she had done with the previous me! When she had finished she generously said "no charge, donate the money you would have paid me to POM". I was so touched by her kindness and generosity. She was just like a fairy Godmother!

Generosity is such a great word. A teacher of mine prefers it to the word 'giving', in relation to the first of the 'Six Perfections', in Buddhism. The 'Six Perfections' are like the job description of a person doing their best to live a good life. In case you are wondering what the other five are, they are Kindness, Patience, Joyful Effort, Meditative Concentration and Wisdom. My teacher says generosity refers to open handedness; being generous with the world with our money, possessions and ourselves. We can be generous with our body, through acts of kindness, our speech through compliments, support, and encouragement, and our mind, through wishing others well and having compassionate kind thoughts. This open handedness or open heartedness opens us up to share with others and the world. It involves sharing ourselves in all dimensions, our time, support, smiles, listening ear, money, compassion, kindness, skills, knowledge and resources. As the Dalai Lama says "Generosity is the most natural outward expression of an inner attitude of compassion and loving kindness." Generosity is the opposite of being fearful and protective of ourselves. Generosity feels great!

We all have things to generously share with others, no matter how skilled, rich or well resourced we are. It is fun to use your imagination to think of ways to share generously with others, a smile is always a good starting point. I would love you to share you ideas with me, and I will include them in the coming blogs - anonymously if you wish. Email me here

Work on revamping the pom-melbourne website is done,for now. Yay and much thanks to the generosity of Sam, Tara Alice, Tenzin Lekdron, Sashi and you all.   

Thank you all for your continued support and friendship and generosity 
Kind Regards and Best Wishes 
Maree xx ​