31. what does beauty mean to me?

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Mmmkay Mandy. You really picked a deep one for our first question!

What does beauty mean to me? When I think of something that is beautiful, like a sunrise or my son's happy chatter in the morning, it makes my heart swell. I smile instantly because I literally cannot help it. I get a slight tightness in my chest because of the quick adrenalin rush that happens. One of the most beautiful traits anyone can embody is generosity. When I hear or see of someone being generous to others, my emotions are flooded with so much happiness that I want to cry. Like the people on Extreme Home Makeover. Or visiting someone in the hospital when you hate hospitals. Or giving x amount of money to someone so they can get through the next week. Beautiful does not even come close to describing generosity. God's word teaches us to love our neighbors. Loving our neighbors means one must be generous in some capacity.

Sometimes I have a hard time being generous. It is human nature to be selfish and I believe everyone has to work on that at some point in life. It's hard to give up time, money, and material things when you'd much rather be doing something else. Our little family is not in a financial position to be generous to others in need (heck, we have taken advantage of the government at times). However, just because we may not have the money to be generous to others, we certainly have other options. I recently went through all of my old clothes and books. I donated all the clothes to Good Will and took the books to a local book store that is not struggling, but certainly needs the support. I run the book club at work and I only order our books through that location. Our residents would be devastated (me too!) if the store ever shut down because it's community stopped supporting it. I'm not going to let that happen! :)

Beauty is in and around so many other things. This post could easily be pages and pages long. In short, beauty is wherever one feels it the most. I feel it the most when I'm being generous or when someone else is doing the same. How are you generous?