The Optimism of Generosity

Description

Sometimes I think, how is it even appropriate to talk about optimism?

Every day there’s another shooting, tragedy, political or legal debacle.

And yet I feel like we can’t give up. Or at least I can’t. Maybe you feel the same way.

Studying generosity, like studying any wholesome quality of mind, is the opposite of giving up. It’s a study in being optimistic.

For one thing, it’s a study of character-building and that’s an optimistic activity: imagine if we could re-form our own character in the most positive direction possible.

For another thing, it might make someone’s day just a tiny bit better. Imagine if we could do that, all day long. And if we do, then they might just pay it forward. Imagine what could happen with a love like that. It could light up the whole world.