Generous

I'm really great at being generous. Not as great at allowing others to be generous toward me. Over the last year or so I've been trying to get better at that. I've realized that it's a disservice to not make that generosity a two-way street. That by having that generosity boomerang, we can do so much for each other and for others. 

Last year I had a giant bakeathon for my birthday. This year I decided to start planning what my birthday would consist of  8 months ahead of the big day. 

Nicole of five years ago probably would have done this herself. I would have held it close. My lizard brain would have been telling me that no one else wants to do this with you. The self-doubt would have said why do you think that someone else would care about your birthday so much, are you that full of yourself? 

This year though I decided to leap. I asked my nearest and dearest friends to join in. I set four very open criteria and sat back while these generous individuals came up with the ideas that will now be turned into this year's celebration. I opened up to the generosity that exists in my world and had more fun and got better ideas than I ever could have on my own. 

It's a scary thing to put your hopes and dreams on the table so plainly until you find your tribe who make it so natural to connect and make you feel pretty silly for not doing it sooner. 

p.s. This blog from Seth that helped capture how I felt today too.