As I wrote in this post, October 18, 2010 marks the start of the 30-Day-of-Generosity Challenge kicked off by author Mike Dickson at the last European Summit for Global Transformation.
Here is my page of recaps, day by day.
Day 1 (Oct.18): help out a coworker who has back issues (see? easy!)
Day 2 (Oct.19): all about the money - > contributed for local Foodbank action at supermarket, and for Marianne Eliott's Global Seva Challenge 2010 (ok technically that was actually yesterday - and I got myself a nice tank top along the way)
Day 3 (Oct.20): being stuck home with a cold is no excuse: "liked" Amnesty International of Facebook, for each "like" they get 1$, nice!
Day 4 (Oct.21): going for a run and enjoying it makes people smile and start a conversation. And smile again :) When you smile you make people want to smile and lit up!
Day 5 (Oct.22): calling the family back in France - I call them less often than I'm willing to disclose, shame on me. Let's make that up :)
Day 6 (Oct.23): letting the elderly woman (and her dog!) in the (very small) elevator, she was going up home and I down, I could wait :)
Day 7 (Oct.24): that one was for me: treated myself to a long yoga practice, leaving me balanced, grounded, mindful :)
Day 8 (Oct.25): helped out a stuck-at-home sick coworker with an emergency that couldn't wait for her coming back to the office.
Day 9 (Oct.26): I was on the receiving end today, so I'm working to be it back and forward :)
Travelling fun:
Day 10 (Oct.27): made sure to thank all hostesses, bus drivers, hotel receptionists, shop assistants, all the people helping out when travelling :)
Day 11 (Oct.28): contribution given to Montreal's Musée d'Art Contemporain. Don't forget the Arts!
Day 12 (Oct.29): was super nice to everyone I met. I think ;)
Day 13 (Oct.30): leave tips to waitresses at coffee shops (especially for one who was having a hard time with a difficult client, poor girl)
Day 14 (Oct.31): took the time to answer question of a visibly drunken homeless man, who didn't know what day it was.
Day 15 (Nov.1): we gave our still valid bus tickets to two girls arriving in Montreal, and giving the last of our Canadian money to a charity involved in developing more infrastructures in touristic locations for disabled people.
Day 16 (Nov.2): another long yoga practice for my jet-lagged and stiff body after hours in airports and planes, oh yeah!
Day 17 (Nov.3): volunteered to translate docs into English for a French-based NGO, sounds fun :)
Day 18 (Nov.4): you know that translation I was talking about? I offered to do more than previously planned!
Day 19 (Nov.5): complimented and encouraged people, I love people today :)
Day 20 (Nov.6): reconnected and spent time with friends, felt good!
Day 21 (Nov.7): worked my a** off on that translation, wow! but honestly I love it, plus I'm learning a lot...
Day 22 (Nov.8): retyped the last 5 entries as Blogspot apparently ate everything... More seriously, I feel like my friend Will @socialCOMPASS, the conscious small acts are natural and I don't even notice anymore, a thank you to a car that stops so I don't stop running, a smile and a nice word to the woman at the supermarket... Generosity spreads :)
Day 23 (Nov.9): had a long online chat with a friend - I do believe that generosity was on both sides though, it felt good!
Day 24 (Nov.10): spent the evening offline completely and took some time to pause and spend a quiet evening with Lovely Boyfriend, we both needed that :)
Day 25 (Nov.11): finished the English translation for the NGO, wheeeee!
Day 26 (Nov.12): helped out a new coworker who is actually not working with me, but poor girl was lost.
Day 27 (Nov.13): I think more and more there are small acts, that we don't even notice any more, a thank you, a smile... for this day I remember helping out a French girl finding her way in London (oh the irony).
Day 28 (Nov.14): 2 things stood out for me yesterday, one was going all the way to the bar in the Eurostar on behalf of my whole coach to get someone to open the toilets - yeah I know ;), and the other one was tipping the taxi driver who drove me home from the station under 10 minutes (maybe I was just grateful because he didn't get me killed in the process!)
Day 29 (Nov.15): helped the NGO mentioned above spread the word about the issue I worked on -informative article there.
Day 30 (Nov.16): last official day of the challenge, and it all comes together. I did a very small thing today: I helped my yoga teacher carry stuff out her studio. It doesn't sound like much, but she was grateful for this.
I've realized over these 30 days that the word "generosity" is often linked to the word "money". Of course, money is important, but the true essence of generosity lies beyond the materialistic values. Generosity is an attitude and a way of life, which ideally should be natural. We all have the potential to be generous, to live generous lives, let's ignite this spark and keep it alive!
If you're up for it, please link your blog in the comment section of this post, thanks!
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