“I’ve come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that’s as unique as a fingerprint – and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing the energy of the universe to lead you.”
– Oprah Winfrey
I believe volunteering needs to be a big part of our lives. When we volunteer, our own issues and problems start to look minor and our ability to solve those issues can improve. In addition, giving back a certain percentage of income has been important for our family. I won’t kid anyone, there have been years when that mantra has been scary for me. It can be hard, especially in today’s economic times because personal margins are slimmer than they’ve been before. But when you give, you get so much more in return.
I’ll give you an example. Before we moved across the country, we had a huge garage sale. I gave the children a choice. They could either keep the money they made from selling their own individual items, or they could have all the proceeds (from the entire sale) split equally to given to their favorite cause (charities). Miraculously, they chose the latter.
When people attempted to haggle, they would say, “But this is for charity!” Many people were so intrigued; they ended up giving the children multiple of what they were asking!
Weeks later, each child received a letter from their charity thanking them and a newspaper reporter called to hear their story. Now, that is getting back more than they expected in a way that they didn’t expect!
Image by Sammis Reachers (CC BY 2.0) via flickr
Love when that happens. With your permission, I’d love to share your article in a future blog post.
(fully acknowledging authorship & origin)
Absolutely!