On being a fool

Lately a phrase entered my subconscious:

Be ruthlessly generous

But what does that mean? To be ruthlessly generous?

Is it the same as being generously ruthless? Am I supposed to be more mean, more assertive, more ruthless?

The exact definition escapes me, but I now understand that to be ruthlessly generous, is to have an infinite abundant supply of love for yourself, for your loved ones, for the ones around you, for strangers, for the world.

To be ruthlessly generous is to accept that the world is not fair nor perfect. (Nothing wrong with that. It just is.)

To be ruthlessly generous is to not always expect kindness and generosity in return, because that’s not how it works. And despite knowing this, to commit to be that everlasting fountain of joy and happiness to everyone around you, because that is also what the universe actually is, if you stop asking for it to be fair according to your definition.

To be ruthlesslly generous is to be ready to be hurt and disappointed, for others may take advantage of your generosity. Regardless, you pick yourself up, shake off all that hurt and disappointment, and chalk the experience as an outlier, not the norm. You are ready to trust others all over again. You are ready to be hurt and disappointed again. You don’t fear them because, well, you are ruthlessly generous.

To be ruthlessly generous is to have others misunderstand you, question your motives, accuse you of all sorts of things you never envision of doing, berate you, and make fun of your naivete. To be ruthlessly generous is to smile and continue giving when others mock your generosity, either because they don’t see value in what you’re giving or because they want to be the most generous in the room.

It doesn’t matter. To be ruthlessly generous is a one way street. It doesn’t expect reciprocity, recognition or understanding. It doesn’t have to be “right” or “wrong”. The tap of generosity is always on.

To be ruthlessly generous is to understand that the biggest lie we tell ourselves is that there is a hard impenetrable barrier between “me” and “others”. Because when you tear through that illusion, being ruthlessly generous is simply being generous to yourself.

In other words, to be ruthlessly generous is to be a fool. An innocent, daring, reckless fool, who is seemingly irrational mocked by others and bound to end up in an accident. But just what if, you’ll end up in a happy accident through all your foolishness?

So that’s my motto, my mantra for the next foreseeable future: to be ruthlessly generous.