I came across two stories back-to-back in this morning's perusal of newsal that caused a physical response that felt like something Sybil, the famous multiple personality woman could have experienced regularly ... bang! zowie! huh? boy howdy! ... the world can sure look different one moment to the next!

First, this, on people who give and give and give ... mega-givers, so to speak, those who give till it hurts simply because it feels so darned good.

People like James Doty who gave $29 million to charity ... and lest that sound like a cake-walk for a rich guy, it added up to 99% of his net worth ... and Oseola McCarty, an "elderly washerwoman" who gave $150,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi for scholarships.

"Stretch" giving is up, partially due to new IRS rules on donations, but also because people ... many of our generation ... are deciding that they don't need more stuff.

Academics who study wealth say more aging Baby Boomers are choosing charity to add meaning to their lives -- and to get a buzz that lasts longer than the kick that comes from splurging on a designer watch or expensive car.

Some are also insisting that inherited wealth is not a good thing, that it does kids no good and has the potential of ruining families. As one father put it, "If you start thinking about that when you are 5 or 10 or 15 or 20, you'll probably end up having a pretty unhappy or unfulfilling life."

Many also harbor no illusions about their own success:

"There is no such thing as a self-made man," says Mr. Engle [a man who made much of his money in what he calls "lucky" real estate and investment calls]. "You are given certain talents, a good memory or ambition or perseverance, and it behooves you to pay it back."

Does this sort of attitude develop because we've had it all? Because life has been easy? Or are we grasping again what we knew well in our hippy-dippy days, that outward focus on others brings more rewards that inner focus on self? Is it 50s ease or 60s angst that drives many of us toward benevolence and philanthropy? Or could it be both?

Many of us remember a time that was not simply simpler in the sense of being less complicated, but also by having less stuff ... and much simpler stuff, since we're into simple for the moment ... available and considered necessary.

Many of our mothers sewed and no few garments were homemade. A kid's prize possessions could fit in an old cigar box, and one bike lasted almost all of a childhood. Give a kid a yo-yo, a bag of marbles, a jump rope and a hula hoop, and you'd made a neighborhood happy for a month.

Is it this upbringing that prompts so many of us to forego expensive extras now, and instead give away what we could be spending on summer homes and pricey cars?

Is this why so many of us chose to spend our 'mature years' raising children, rather than cruising the Caribbean or skiing the Alps?

I know it makes me proud and gives me hope in humanity to realize that I share the planet with people that stretch to give, then give some more, and I'm inspired to push that extra bit myself for the greater good.

Continued in the next post.