Tag: Good People

Is generosity just for good people?

Published on by Kieran Johnson - The Generosity GuyLeave a comment

“Have you met me?” I asked a close friend.

They has just said something weird and seemed worried about sharing something with me, because I might judge them for not having their life altogether.

They had seen me go through some of life’s craziest twists and turns, and at no point could I claim that I had it all together. Yet, they feared me judging them? Holy cow. I have no right to do that – I may not be the worst person on earth, but I am far from 100% good.

But my friend, they are a really good person, even though they just shared about some pretty tough things they were involved in.

Life is messy and challenging and I think that anyone who can even be a little bit good in amongst that it outstanding.

In this dichotomy of mess and bits of good, we find an interesting reality – people can act generously without being totally good. Generosity is an outworking of the good we have within us, somewhere. Even if it is a tiny amount of good.

You don’t have to be considered good to act generously to other people.

Also, generosity grows that tiny bit of good within us and makes it a little bigger.

Quiet Farty

Published on by Kieran Johnson - The Generosity GuyLeave a comment

It still makes me laugh now when I think about it. My youngest must have been about 3 years old when the discussion about farting became very funny for her. We didn’t want to avoid the awkward subject, and sometimes things got out of hand when one of the kids was described as ‘Farty McFart-Face’ (maybe by me). There was one instance as were sitting around after bath time when the kids were getting ready for bed and I thought I could smell something. My 3 year old looked at me with a cheeky smile and said, “Quiet farty”.

I couldn’t stop laughing. It was, and I think still is, the funniest thing I have ever heard. Sure, it probably helps if you have the maturity of a 3-year-old too.

Those sorts of moments don’t happen unless you give space, unless you dwell in the quiet of the moment. But they are the moments you will remember. That’s the good stuff.

It might feel like there are so many bad things happening. The stuff that we hear about day to day, the loudest things, are unpleasant, tragic, devastating, sad and overwhelming. What is happening in our world? Where are the good things? Where are the good people?

James Clear says that “good things are always happening quietly”. That’s how it has always been. The good things and the good people aren’t as in your face, but they are there and they are stronger than any of the bad things that happen in our world. But they do require that you give yourself space to notice them, that you dwell in the quiet. Take a step back from the noise and the loudness of the bad to see the good happening all around you.