A while back, I wrote about sowing days and reaping days. You guys responded more than any other post.

Today I'm following up with something that's been on my mind and heart - choosing generosity. Come with me...

So you've sown seeds, and the fruit is starting to grow. You have authority and opportunity of your own. Finally!

If you're like me, you now begin to find yourself in situations where you have a choice:

You can either hold on to all the opportunity you've worked for... or you can share it.

Eek. In these situations, I want to make a case for choosing generosity.

Now of course, we need to be fair and responsible to everyone, including ourselves. But when it’s not clear cut and could go either way… let's be generous.

I am so thankful for those of you who have modeled everyday generous decisions for me in our world of grant and research work. I have written before about Dr. Krystal Cruse, Dr. Ramu Ramachandran, Dr. Danielle Williams, and the Innovation Enterprise, all of whom have modeled these things for me!

Here's what "everyday generosity" can look like in grants:

• noticing and building up others' potential

• including someone with less experience on your project

• recommending someone else to be PI

• listing someone before yourself on a paper

• allocating someone more money in a grant budget because you know the whole picture

• giving the advice that no one gave you (or that you had to pick up from a hundred different places)

• meeting someone at the table now, even if they didn’t support your early vision

• partnering with someone who could be seen as a competitor

Y'all, some of these are easier than others. And especially today, when many are facing uncertainty, it's easy to focus on our own challenges and hold our fists tightly around what we think we can control. But I truly believe there's enough for us all, and we will ease anxiety and do our best work when we raise each other up.

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Photo by Elaine Casap on Unsplash