Ron Artest is stupendous! Check this out. You have to admire someone who uses his position of unbelievable privilege to give to others. And he does it loudly, in public, and with no cynicism. He doesn't give because his agent tells him to, because it improves his public image. From where I stand, it looks like he's a person who feels extremely blessed to be in the position he is, and who, out of that feeling, wants to become a funnel for blessing to others.
A side note: I'm looking at definitions for blessing and the one most accurate to what I'm talking about seems to be "a beneficial thing for which one is grateful; something that brings well-being". I would only add a sense that comes from the Hebrew word bracha that this feeling of gratitude is not just one of pleasantness but of abundant love. That is, the beneficial thing feels like it has come from a source overflowing with love; it was not given because you deserved it or in order to be repaid, but simply out of unconditional love. And all that love overflows inside of you. It seems the only thing you can do is let it fill your heart and then try to let it spill over to others.
This is what the 100 blessings Jews say every day are all about. Feeling and filling themselves with the abundant, unconditional love that God makes manifest in say, a cup of coffee or the ability to stand up straight, and then letting that good stuff overflow to others.
And yes, you don't have to be a God or a Jew to do it, but you do have to follow Ron Artest's lead and count your blessings.
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