Engage Your Generous Positivity

This week I read an interesting post on the Facebook page of a photographer I admire ( Erik McRitchie ) and he stated the following;

Did you know that your body produces dopamine every time you post something that other people like? Research suggests that it’s actually the anticipation of seeing the “likes” that triggers this chemical release in our bodies…
I’m wondering today how this is impacting us and our culture with Instagram and Facebook constantly creating a need for increased affirmation, pleasure, and chemical release..

I was very intrigued by this and something that I am very mindful of when I am in the outdoors, when I shoot photos or when I write. Do it for the love of the moment. Do it to inspire others. Do it to bring joy to others.

But…this was not where my thoughts went. They instead went with ensuring our intentions are the genuine and honest.

“Sound Intentions” was my realization immediately after because something I did personally and something a good friend wrote almost simultaneously occurred.

Engage Your Generous Positivity

First my friend wrote the following;

Feeling a little overburdened at the moment. Working to remind myself: Head up, lean into it.

This phrase engaged me as I had just agreed to be part of yet another community organization as a director. I would be sacrificing even more of my personal time. Was I doing this for the recognition <likes> ? Or was I doing this because I wanted to help out and support my local community? Only a question I can answer but I honestly feel it is the later.

This topic has been going though my mind over the last 24hrs from starting out as “getting likes” for our social media activity evolving into getting “likes” for volunteering. I think it’s good to reflect and look at ourselves with a critical eye to make sure we are on the right path.

Happily I just finished reading a terrific blog post by Budgets are Sexy that was speaking on wealth and happiness but it was very relevant to my thoughts and was the right quote at the right time for me. He shared a video by John Thornton and one simple teaching of King Soloman closed it all of for me.

Be generous. “When I have a generous heart, I see the people around me who have less. And when I see the people around me who have less, I realize I have enough to share – but it also makes me thankful. It makes me content. But when I have a stingy spirit, I see all those people around me who have more than me. Quite frankly even the most richest person in the world still doesn’t own most of it. It’s a never ending trap.”

Maybe the quote is relevant, maybe its totally irrelevant but I like the idea to be generous. I will chose to be Generous with;

• sharing my experiences
• sharing my thoughts
• sharing my knowledge
• sharing of my time
• sharing my photos

I will do so because it is generous and that helps the fabric of our society, let’s call it inspiration through “Generous Positivity”.

From Facebook posts to Involvement in your community search for generosity above likes.

Have you looked at your intentions lately?

#ExploreBeyondTheUsual and let me know your thoughts.