Personal growth: Developing the spirit of generosity May 11, 2014
Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Concept of personal development, Tao Te Ching.Tags: abundance, generosity, Lao-tzu, Law of Reciprocation, personal development, personal growth, Personal growth and development, self-improvement, Tao Te Ching
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One of the precepts that we soon come across in a serious study of personal growth and development is what we might call an attitudinal + action version of the Law of Reciprocation.
In the case of bringing the concept of generosity into our self-improvement program, the law is straightforward: give and you will receive.
As we increase our self-awareness, and our knowledge of the principles of personal growth as it applies to our attitudes, emotions, and behaviour patterns, we discover how generosity can benefit us in many ways; in addition to helping the recipients of our generosity.
Although the true spirit of generosity requires that our actions be done without expectation of reward, nevertheless we gain as much, and possibly more, than those we are generous towards.
We can be generous with our time, our resources, our knowledge and skills, our understanding, our acceptance, and more.
The ancient Chinese wisdom writer Lao Tzu stated the concept concisely in this excerpt from chapter 81 of the Tao Te Ching:
A sage never hoards:
the more you do for others,
the more plenty is yours,
and the more you give to others,
the more abundance is yours. (1)
(1) Lao Tzu, the Tao Te Ching, as translated by David Hinton in his book, The Four Chinese Classics
Personal growth: Having faith in our innate abilities May 9, 2014
Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Concept of personal development, Self-Esteem.Tags: Eric Hoffer, negative thinking, personal development, personal development potential, personal growth, philosophy, self-assurance, self-awareness, self-confidence
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One of the key outcomes we seek in a program of personal growth and development is that of acquiring the ability to have faith in our own capabilities and potential.
In terms of self-awareness and self-knowledge, we want to achieve greater self-confidence, and greater self-assurance regarding the creativity, originality, and validity of our own individual thought process.
And, as a large component of our work on developing this confidence, we turn to the experts on personal growth.
What do they have to say about how we should move forward?
We can, however, become over-reliant on the experts to the point where we begin to doubt our own abilities to make decisions about the strategic path we need to take in constructing a self-improvement program tailored to our individual circumstances and needs.
There is reluctance to believe we can absorb the advice of the experts, and yet have the confidence to design a self-directed growth program based on selecting the appropriate (to our personality) component elements suggested by those experts.
And so, because of these inner doubts we may choose to follow a particular program in its entirety without making the necessary adjustments our specific situation may require.
Combatting this reluctance to trust ourselves will take some serious work, because it is rooted in our inborn sense of insecurity.
Eric Hoffer has commented on this conundrum:
“We have more faith in what we imitate than in what we originate. We cannot derive a sense of absolute certitude from anything which has its roots in us. The most poignant sense of insecurity comes from standing alone; we are not alone when we imitate.” (1)
(1) Eric Hoffer, The Passionate State of Mind
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