Today's prompt is about generosity: "Look back at the last year and consider: how did generosity open your heart?
How can you cultivate generosity in the coming year?"
In looking up the exact meaning for generosity, it is about more than just giving of objects, it is about being kind. Contemplating on that aspect of the word, I have been shown much kindness in the last year. Sad as this is, if I recounted every single act of generosity towards myself and my family I would not be able to do justice in describing what happened. So, instead, I will stick with one instance.
My husband is, I'm sure, like most others: fun, loving, a little on the absentminded side, and hard working. The last few years he has supported me through school in telling me that I am not allowed to quit (he means it), and if I change my major again he will insist I no longer continue my education (again, he means it). After watching me flip flop on a career choice for over 10 years, he decided to stand up, put his foot down, and demand that I either get a career, or move on in my life.
Boy oh boy did that freak me out, but I signed my life away and headed down the rabbit hole of teaching. It hasn't always been what I have expected, nor has it always been fun, but every time I think about quitting I see that look in his eyes. It makes me sigh, grab an energy drink, and continue doing my work.
Once June came around, and he saw that I'd passed the West-B (first in a two part series exams issued by the state for teachers), that gleam came in his eyes as though he actually believed - for the first time - that I may finish school and get a diploma. When I passed the second in the series, he moved from talking about "if" I graduate, to "when".
Fast forward to now, December, and he is actively working with me to help us save for my time student teaching. Along with working with me to get this done, he is my sounding board for frustration, and my rough/tough cheer leader to keep plugging away. I struggled for a few months to find student teaching placement, and he was right there offering suggestions every step of the way.
Though this all probably sounds odd, my husband has shown me great kindness in 1. Forcing me to take the steps towards finishing my degree, 2. Being gracious enough to agree to add extra courses for a double major (this added to our financial burden in paying school back), and 3. By putting in every effort to make my time left in school manageable. Without him, and many others, I would probably be left still trying to decide what step to take next.
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