The Giving Heart

Book excerpt: A guide to giving freely, with a full heart and a generous spirit: “A book you’ll cherish.” —Jackie Waldman, author of The Courage to Give Gratitude and generosity go hand in hand—the more we appreciate our lives, the more we want to give to others. The Giving Heart takes a look at generosity: what creates it, what blocks it, and what the practice of generosity can bring to our lives. In a series of short, heartfelt essays, M.J. Ryan, the author of The Grateful Heart and Attitudes of Gratitude, encourages us all to free ourselves from the “ledger sheet mentality” of obligatory, transactional gifting, and begin giving from the overflow of a loving heart. She asks readers to consider where and how they are stingy as well as where they are meant to give, and to contemplate all the types of possible generosity, because the giving of time, energy, kind words, loving gestures, and forgiveness may ultimately matter more than any amount of money. In her down-to-earth, accessible style, Ryan takes us to the heart of what it means to truly give, and what that giving can do not only for the recipient, but for ourselves as well.