LoveBytes

Experience beyond words.

As a life long wordsmith, it’s ironic that I’m now questing beyond words.

Regular readers here will have noticed ongoing changes, including offering shorter posts. Fewer words, more meaning (hopefully), woven between the lines.

My latest experiment is to offer what I’m calling LoveBytes, weekly presentations in 300 words or less which translates into 2 - 3 minutes reading time. Each one will have a concept, an image, and an example. Here’s the first one:

Generosity is Contagious

We’ve heard the phrase, “It’s better to give than to receive.” I would rephrase that into “Giving determines receiving.” That is, quoting another well known phrase, “As we give, so we receive.”

My friend Stan forwarded me this true story to illustrate the point:

Steven Covey (The 7 Habits author) tells a story about the power of trust. A hot dog cart vendor in New York City had long lineups back in the day when everyone paid cash, so he had to personally handle each payment and provide change. One day, he set out a box and asked people to pay and take their own change. Predictably, it doubled his output and very few people took advantage of his trust in them. Better yet, if his regular customers happened to see someone not paying or taking too much change they spoke up and stopped it. His willingness to trust his customers paid off with greater sales and customers that totally supported him.

Generosity and trust are bound together. We trust that our generosity will be rewarded. But, if we expect a personal reward, it’s no longer true generosity. Giving with no strings attached is different. The receiving doesn’t need to be ours. We trust that when value is given freely, value will accrue and benefit someone somewhere. This demonstrates our quantum identity, oneness in action.