BENEVOLENCE

Giving to others' basic needs
without having as my motive personal reward

vs. Selfishness

Emperor penguins raise their young in the harsh, frozen Antarctic.  After the mother lays the egg, the father keeps it warm by lifting it onto his own feet and snuggling it under his warm belly for as long as three months. He sacrifices his own freedom to give life to the baby penguin and does it in the heart of winter so the baby can hatch and grow during the milder summer season.  When the penguin hatches, the mother returns to care for the baby and the father goes to the sea for his first meal in three months.

I will...

• see the needs of others as quickly as I see my own.

• give freely without expecting anything in return.

• not hoard things for myself.

• not profit from the misfortune of others.

• give more as I get more.
  Used with permission of Character Training Institute
  www.characterfirst.com

"Twas her thinking of others made you think of her."
Elizabeth Barrett Browning