9 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD BECOME GENEROUS

Generosity is a practice that has been around for ages. Today we have non profits and charities which high revenues. It’s definitely on a rise! It has something to do with the benefits that being generous has on people. The incredible benefits to being generous far outweigh what people get in return for being stingy.

1. Generosity makes us healthy. Chronic high blood pressure kills millions every year. But one study found generosity actually reduced blood pressure as much as medicine and exercise.
   And it’s not just blood pressure. Generosity also lowers the risk of dementia, reduces anxiety and depression, improves chronic pain management, and more. “If you were somehow able to package this into a compound, you’d be a billionaire overnight,” said Stephen G. Post of Stony Brook University School of Medicine.
2. Generosity makes us happy. Giving our time and money to others gives us an emotional boost. Why? According to researcher Christian Smith it’s because feeling good is a product of doing good. It’s built into our neurochemistry.
   Giving triggers feel-good chemicals like endorphins, dopamine, and oxytocin. And it’s true across cultural and economic lines, too, according to a Harvard Business School study. It’s just part of being human.
3. Generosity lowers our stress. We don’t think of Scrooge as a mellow guy, do we? Here’s why. It turns out being stingy can actually raise our stress levels.
   After hooking people up to heart monitors, researchers found that when they felt they were giving too little in a transaction it actually drove up their stress. Being generous, on the other hand, kept stress down. It’s like the Golden Rule in action.
4. Generosity improves our relationships. In a study of generosity and its effect in marriage, researchers found that the recipient of generosity expressed high levels of marital satisfaction, but so did the giver.
   “[P]articipants’ reports of behaving in a generous fashion toward their spouse were linked to their own reports of marital quality,” said the researchers. “The extension of generosity toward the spouse was positively related to their own reports of marital satisfaction. . . .”
5. Generosity extends our lives. All this adds up to longer life-expectancy. In fact, one study of 2,000 people in Marin, California, found volunteering dramatically reduced mortality rates.
   “Subjects who volunteered for two or more causes had a 63 percent lower rate of mortality than people who didn’t volunteer during the study period,” Said one.
6. Generosity promotes physical health. Physical and mental health immediately improve after doing just one generous act.
    One recent study shows that giving helps improve blood pressure in the same way exercise and medicine do. Giving also reduces the likelihood of anxiety and dementia according to the study. So if you want to stay young, give your time, energy and money away.
7. Builds deeper friendships. If you’re not convinced by personal happiness, blissful marriage and living to be a hundred, maybe you’ll think of your friends. Generosity builds deeper friendships because there is nothing like laying your life down for someone. It creates emotional connections that weren’t there before, and deepens your relationships. Giving doesn’t just make other people want to love us, it perpetuates the need in us to love others. It causes you to perceive others optimistically, and lends to a sense of community. Giving and serving also builds trust. Generosity, with the right boundaries and motives, will give you the deeper relationships you’ve been longing for.
8. Leads to success. You can even get rich by giving all your money away. No lie! Think of a workplace where each person helps their coworkers succeed. Everyone is ready to give useful advice, lend a hand on a project, give credit and cooperate humbly. It would be hard to decide on who to give the promotion to! Since the theme here is somewhat scientific, I have to point out that the University of Pennsylvania proved the hypothesis: people working together meant more people experienced success.
9. Changes someone’s world. This might be obvious to some, mostly those who are already giving. They are working to make a difference. People who don’t like to see dirt are more likely to help clean it up. Everything from poverty to slavery can be enough to inspire someone to give their time or money away. While it may not remove the dirt altogether, it makes a huge difference to the person you impacted with $30 a month, or a weekend at the shelter.

We make it a practice. If we want the full positive effect of generosity, we have to make it a lifestyle.