The greatest gift we can ever give to another person is a piece of our selves. This gift can take many forms, including our time, our talents, our ideas, or even our resources.

As I grow older, I find myself concerned with my own affairs less and less. My urge for consumption—particularly material possessions—has decreased overall. I’m simply less enthralled by stuff these days. I am more content and grateful for what I already have.

I now find myself compelled to ‘spread the love’ and ‘share the wealth’ and regularly pass along freelance design projects to fellow colleagues—especially when a project doesn’t light me up creatively. I love recommending people and businesses. Being ‘social glue’ has its own rewards, more often internal than external. And I am fine with that.

I also find myself being much more generous with my compliments. It feels great to share credit or speak highly of someone. It just feels better to build people up than to tear them down. Not that I was ever intentionally cruel or hurtful, just disinterested and preoccupied.

I never understood the heart’s capacity for expansion until the birth of my children. Just when I thought I wasn’t capable of loving more, I suddenly discovered a new level of feeling. And from what I understand, these nurturing instincts expand ever more when a person becomes a grandparent.

Hopefully in the future, I will get to experience that next level of love. Until then, I will seek to expand my nurturing extincts to include many people.

To your good fortune!