Podcast link
https://anchor.fm/boscom/
Hello, this is Jose Parappully, Salesian priest and clinical psychologist at Sumedha Centre for Psychospritual Wellbeing at Jeolikote, Uttarakhand, with another edition of Psyche & Soul.
This weekend we shall
reflect on the contribution of generosity to health and happiness…
The Gospels have two marvellous
stories of generosity. One is of the widow who put her entire life earnings,
though so small, into the temple treasury (Lk. 21, 3). Jesus appreciates her
generosity.
The other is that of the boy
with five loaves and two fish. Quite a bit of food for a boy to consume. May be
that was the ration for his whole family. Whatever, the boy’s generosity in
giving away his fish and loaves helped to feed five thousand hungry people (Jn.
6, 9-12).
There are any number of modern day stories of generosity. One such story, an extraordinary one, is that of Mr. Kalyanasundarm from Tamil Nadu, who was given the rare title of Man of the Millennium.
What is best known about Mr.
Kalyanasundaram is that he donated his entire
salary from the first day of starting his job as librarian at Kumarkurupara Arts College, till the last day of his service to charitable causes. He
also gave away his entire pension money to charity. To sustain his own simple
life style Mr. Kalyanasundaram worked as a waiter/cleaner in a local restaurant
and did other sundry jobs.
When the
Sino-Indian war broke out in 1963, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru made a
public request on radio for people to donate to the National Defense Fund. Mr.
Kalyanasundaram, then a student at Madras University, donated his one valued
possession – his gold chain.
When floods
ravaged South Tamil Nadu districts in 1992 Mr. Kalyanasundaram travelled to
several villages and donated books, school uniforms and stationaries to 10,000
children.
He donated
his entire millennial price award of 30 lakh rupees too charity.
Mr. Kalyanasundaram
wants to be useful even in death. He has donated his body for scientific
research after his death.
Extraordinary
generosity, indeed!
REWARDS OF GENEROSITY
But there
is much more. Scientific research tells us that just like gratitude that we
explored in the last podcast, a generous disposition has extraordinary impact
on our emotional health and wellbeing.
Such a disposition evokes in us positive emotions with consequent
benefits. Generosity is a proven mental and emotional health enhancer. Jesus’
exhortation, “Give and gifts will be given to you…” (Lk.38) is true in many,
many ways.
Research shows that generosity reduces stress,
prevents depression,
enhances our sense of purpose
and leads to overall life satisfaction and wellbeing, making us healthier and
happier.
Research has also shown that
helping others enhances the helper’s own happiness. Generosity trumps selfishness when it comes to success and life
satisfaction in the long run.
Generosity leads us to
perceive others in more positive light and enhances social connectedness and
builds positive personal relationships, both of which are proved to enhance
emotional wellbeing and contribute to reduced
risk of mortality.
Generous actions create a
“feel good” factor, which in turn, enhances self-esteem, a necessary contributor
to emotional health. These actions
release endorphin, dopamine and oxytocin – the feel good chemicals in our body
– which brings about a “helper’s high” and helps fight stress and disease. Feeling good is a natural byproduct of doing good. Stinginess – the
opposite of generosity – on the other hand, has been found to evoke a sense of
shame, which negatively affects emotional wellbeing.
More importantly, just like
gratitude, a generous disposition also enhances our immune system and extends our
lifespan. Generosity reduces blood
pressure, anxiety and depression and lowers the risk of dementia, thus
contributing to wellbeing and a longer and happier life.
Thus, there
are enough reasons for us to be generous.
WHAT IS GENEROSITY?
Want
actually is generosity? Generosity is not just giving gifts or donating to a
good cause. To be generous, as the dictionary defines it, is to be
“magnanimous.” Magnanimous means having a “large soul,” from the two Latin
words “magna” meaning large and “anima”
meaning soul. So, real generosity is about the largeness of our heart, from
which flow the deeds of kindness and compassion.
For the
great catholic theologian and philosopher Thomas Aquinas, magnanimity is the
greatest of all virtues. It is the cherry that tops all charity.
LITTLE WAYS TO BE GENEROUS
We need not
be, and may not afford to be, as magnanimous as the poor widow, or the boy with
the fish and loaves of the Gospel, or Mr. Kalyanasundarm, giving away all that
we have. We can be generous in little ways. We
can contribute a bit of our time, make a small donation, give away a book we
have already read, or the clothes lying unused in our cupboards, spent a few
minutes with a distressed person, make someone feeling blue laugh, give free
tuition to a struggling poor student, volunteer to help our neighbours or at
the local parish or charity.
Countless, indeed, are the opportunities to be generous.
We could now spend a few moments reflecting on how generosity
plays out in own lives. In what ways can we be a little more generous, even magnanimous?
…
What do the two Gospel scenes cited at the beginning of this podcast
and the story of Mr Kalyanasundaram evoke in us? What do they inspire?…
The Jesus who appreciated the generosity of the widow and the
boy is with us here and now. We could spend a few moments sharing with him what
these stories evoke in us. We could
also ask him to show us how we can be more generous in the coming week.
Have a pleasant and generous weekend.
Be well. Be safe. Be blessed.
Thank you for listening/reading.
Jose Parappully SD, PhD
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