Some people seem to be tightly bound by the fate of poverty, and their attitudes and behaviors are often labeled as “generous in poverty.”
This so-called “generous in poverty” is not true generosity, but a special mentality and behavior formed due to long-term financial constraints.
When a middle-aged woman gets used to being poor, she will be “generous in poverty” in these 3 things, the more generous, the poorer.
Being Generous with Time
This refers to some people’s behavior of casually wasting time due to a lack of understanding of the value of time.
For example, Aunt Zhang is busy with various trivial matters every day.
She can spend half a day bargaining with vendors in the market for a few cents, but she is unwilling to spend time learning new skills to improve her quality of life.
Her concept of time remains at “saving now is earning,” ignoring the potential value of time itself.
Over time, Aunt Zhang not only misses the opportunity to improve herself but also falls into a strange cycle of seeming to save but actually wasting life.
Being Generous with Face
This phenomenon usually manifests as people spending beyond their financial capacity to maintain their dignity and social status.
For example, Mr. Li would rather tighten his belt to buy an expensive suit and participate in a high-consumption social activity just to appear decent in front of others.
Although this behavior temporarily wins the approval of others, it comes at the cost of sacrificing the family’s financial security and personal mental stress.
The pursuit of face puts him in a vicious cycle, the more generous he is, the more it shows his inner poverty and insecurity.
Being Generous with Pleasure
This refers to some people’s uncontrollable pursuit of instant happiness and satisfaction, even if it brings long-term negative consequences.
For example, Mrs. Wang can’t help but buy items that bring immediate happiness, such as food and fashion accessories, even though these expenses worsen her financial burden.
In her view, temporary happiness outweighs everything, but the result is deeper financial difficulties.
This blind pursuit of pleasure is actually a manifestation of escaping reality, causing people to lose sight of future planning and aspirations under the temptation of materialism.
The three realms of being “generous in poverty”—time, face, and pleasure, are psychological and behavioral traps that people easily fall into when facing poverty.
These traps not only make it difficult for individuals to break free from the current state of poverty but also affect their long-term development and sense of happiness.
Breaking this “generous in poverty” mentality is not easy; it requires individual self-awareness and external support.
The key to solving this issue of “generous in poverty” lies in education and personal self-improvement.
Through education, people can understand the value of time, learn to plan and use time reasonably.
They can grasp the true meaning of face and no longer live for vanity.
They can understand that real happiness is not temporary satisfaction but long-term sense of achievement and self-realization.
At the same time, society should provide more opportunities and support to help those in poverty improve living conditions, provide vocational training and psychological counseling, giving them a chance to break out of the dilemma of “being generous in poverty.”
Only when we deeply understand and overcome the mentality of “being generous in poverty” can we steadily move forward in the river of time, write our own splendid chapters with wisdom and diligence, and make the canvas of life more colorful.