L I V E | G I V E | M O R E

Do you remember back to when you were first learning to exercise your generosity "muscle?"

Everyone has an initial launching point in their journey of generosity. And over the years, I have found that for some people their launching point is not necessarily very "holy" or "groundbreaking." 

Sometimes it's something very simple and tangible like:

• tax savings
• obligation
• a relationship

Now I know for you, something like tax savings is not a motivation, but an added benefit of being a generous giver. As my pastor says:

"We don't give to get, we get to give."

I know I have been challenged in recent years to give when it doesn't even provide me a tax benefit. The intangible benefits of being a giver are way better than a temporary tax benefit.

But for others, maybe someone you know, 2020 might be the year that changes how they give. And maybe they need a tax benefit to take the...

I woke up this morning discouraged and I did something about it and I thought it might be helpful for you. 

I decided to celebrate the wins.

I was talking to my wife the other day, who is juggling, what, seven full-time jobs right now. She's added an assistant principal, a teaching assistant, and tech support to her, resume, and she was like, “I don't feel like I'm getting anything accomplished.”

I think we often feel that way.

I'm pretty sure I heard that our brains get a lot more dopamine from those negative thoughts, rather than focusing on the positive ones.

So I just set aside just FIVE minutes to write down a list of WINS from the past 9 months:

• in my work
• in my family
• and in my own personal life

I discovered three things as I was doing this exercise:

NUMBER ONE

Discouragement comes from three places, circumstances, comparison, and COVID.

Circumstances, the way things are, can't really change that.

Comparison, Theodore Roosevelt said...