I just received a check in the mail for $9.61 from Kimya, a woman who told me that my blog post Stop Striving. You’re Already Enough inspired her and that she tithes to people who spiritually feed her and make a difference in her life. This is the third such check I’ve received from people who also share this practice of tithing to those who fan the flames of their soul. Having never heard of such a practice, it inspired me to invite you all to do the same.
If I were to start such a practice right now, I’d owe hundreds of thousands of dollars to the people who have inspired me along the way – Rachel Naomi Remen , Martha Beck, Louise Hay, Bernie Siegel, Brene Brown, Marianne Williamson, Kris Carr, Wayne Dyer, Richard Bach, Anne Lamott, Christine Northrup, Chris Guillebeau, Elizabeth Gilbert, Eckhardt Tolle, Byron Katie, Sheila Kelley, Martin Seligman, Judith Orloff, Jonathan Fields, Mama Gena, Sonja Lyubomirsky, Larry Dossey, Sera Beak, Danielle LaPorte, Neale Donald Walsch, and countless, countless others.
I’d have to drain my bank account to even begin to express the immensity of my gratitude for how deeply these people and many others have touched my life.
But what if, instead of going backwards in time, I started today? What if YOU started today?
Tithing For Inspiration
Growing up in a family of three Methodist ministers, I was certainly taught to tithe – to give 10% of my earnings to the church as gratitude for all God’s blessings. But I have to admit, it always felt a bit like a racket. I never really resonated with the church, and although I know they tried to do good in the world, it wasn’t the kind of good I wanted to do.
But giving money to the people who teach me, who lift me up, who inspire me? Now I can track with that!
It has left me looking at what inspires me in a whole new way – and just the process of trying to decide who to send money to leaves me in a state of so much gratitude.
Right now, I’m reading Sera Beak’s The Red Book. And I’m going slowly through it because I’m getting SO MUCH out of it (Sera is my kinda spiritual teacher! I wrote about her work here). Because she’s contributing so much to my spiritual growth through the workshop I took with her and her book, I want to tithe to her. So I just sent her a little love letter – with $100. It feels good to me, and I hope it gives her a lift the way Kimya’s $9.61 check gave me one, and I hope it reminds her that the hard work she does getting her message out in the world isn’t in vain, that she has touched my heart and many others.
Who Would You Tithe To?
Who inspires you? Who makes your days brighter? Who might you tithe to?
It doesn’t have to be an author or blogger or teacher. It could be the janitor that always smiles and asks about your day and really means it. Or it could be the woman at Starbucks who knows exactly how you like your latte and serves it up with such devotion that your day always begins with love. Or it could be the nurse at your doctor’s office or your secretary at work or the woman who cares for your child.
How might you give back and thank someone for how they brighten your day?
I’m committing to tithing in this way. Will you join me?
Paying it forward,
PS. Bless you Kimya. You made my day 
Lissa
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Lissa Rankin, MD: Creator of the health and wellness communities LissaRankin.com and OwningPink.com, author of Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof You Can Heal Yourself (Hay House, 2013), TEDx speaker, and Health Care Evolutionary. Join her newsletter list for free guidance on healing yourself, and check her out on Twitter and Facebook.
