Nurses Stand Strong – Part III: Generosity

There’s an amazing phenomenon happening right now.  

Generosity is very often in the nature of nurses. 

It’s how we’re wired. 

Yet as uncertainty abounds, it’s no secret that we’re all being affected in some way. 

Daily life as we know it has been severely interrupted and it’s unclear when things might return to a sense of normalcy.

Given all of that, one might suspect that most people would be walking around cursing the world. Because the truth is, we’re all being called to make incredible sacrifices right now:

• Businesses around the country are suffering tremendously. 
• Employees are being sent home from work without pay.
• Essential workers are being required to stay overtime and stand on the front lines.
• Moms and dads everywhere are homeschooling the kids.
• Travel restrictions are being enforced.  
• We’re asked to distance ourselves from loved ones. 

So much uncertainty.

Indeed, there are a million reasons right now why people should be angry, frustrated, or fearful.

Yet, so much of my experience has been the opposite. In fact, it’s been nothing short of extraordinary. 

You see, an amazing phenomenon is happening right now:

Generosity is abounding. 

The goodness of humanity is flooding out.

So for this week in Nurses Stand Strong, we’re focusing on Generosity. 

And in the spirit of this generosity, we want to share a few stories from our own life – because kindness breeds kindness.

1.  People are making sacrifices to support others.

As you probably know, we work with retreat centers all around the country. 

As a hospitality business, each of them has been greatly affected.  

National bans on gatherings mean that these beautiful places have shut down entirely. 

Still, each retreat center has offered enormous generosity – waiving cancellation fees and being flexible in their contract terms. 

In a stressful time for us all, we’ve worked together to find mutual arrangements to serve everyone.  

It’s been a wonderfully co-created process.

2.  People are stepping up in unprecedented ways. 

You probably don’t know this about Peter, but he makes it a habit to lock himself in a small room with his band, crank the amps up to 10, and sing his heart out. In fact, they’re almost done writing their next album. 

They rent out a small room in a building with dozens of other musicians from all around the city.  

As you can imagine, with nearly all venues closed, many musicians are already struggling to make ends meet, never mind keep their rehearsal space. 

But something amazing happened this week.

The owner of the building sent a message to all musicians who rent space from him:

“All of you in our music community mean the world to me and I want to do whatever I can to help. 

 

So, I’m committing 100% of my salary and personal savings towards covering expenses so our buildings can pay their bills and you all can stay put. 

 

If you can honestly afford to pay rent as usual, please do so. 

If you can’t, let me know, and we’ll work together to cover the costs.”

I was floored. 

The warmest feeling came over me. 

Because that’s people taking care of each other. 

3.   Communities are coming together like never before. 

With schools canceled and kids staying at home, some families are struggling to provide enough food for their children.

Communities, with only a few day’s notice, are setting up food drops to ensure that all kids are fed and cared for.

Neighborhoods are organizing grocery store runs so that high-risk individuals can stay at home. 

Groups ranging from spiritual centers to yoga studios are hosting completely free online services to continually serve their members. 

It takes only a dash of ingenuity to make these things happen, but the payoff is remarkable. 

Kids are fed. People are cared for. Communities grow stronger.

4.   Generosity spreads – we pass on what we receive. 

Myself, Peter, and our company – The Nurse Coach Collective – are doing everything we can to model this same generosity that we have received from others. 

Retreat centers have asked for advancements so that they can stay afloat. 

We’ve obliged their request. 

Students have reached out for additional support and flexibility. 

We’ve worked with them directly to make that happen. 

People have turned to us as nurses and leaders to offer direction in uncertain times.

We’ve stepped up. 

And it’s felt extraordinarily good. 

Because that’s the amazing thing about this:

Being generous means giving your time, energy, and resources to others who may need it more. 

It’s about being resilient no matter what your circumstances are and doing the right thing, even when the world seems to be falling apart.  

So those are our stories – just a few moments in our lives where we’ve noticed an abundance of generosity.  

Now, how about you? We’d love to hear your story, however big or small. 

Where have you experienced a moment of generosity in your life recently?