Making A Difference

If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
Then we’d see the day when nobody died

- Nickleback, If Everyone Cared

I can’t believe I’m quoting Nickleback, but it fits.  Here’s to whatever they were smokin’ that day.  At one time I believed, pretty arrogantly, that there were not that many “givers” in Cincinnati.  And of course I thought I was one of them.  I’m glad I’ve been humbled.  Almost every day I get to meet more and more of the people that make Cincinnati great!  This is one of those stories.

I love serendipity in practice!  I don’t know if I would agree with it in theory, though, as I really feel serendipity favors the prepared.  How?  As they give and give and give in the first place.  Call it good karma. I see it much more as an abundance mentality that multiplies exponentially as people pay it forward.

Vanessa White, a director at the Fine Arts Fund, discussed a concept with me that she calls “giving to get to give.”  It took me a minute or two to digest the concept as she presented a couple of examples.  Essentially, the more you give, the more opportunities you will have to give more.  And the more you give, the more that other people’s giving will come your way.  You may not even know from where, but it will come.

Carl Satterwhite taught Vanessa the concept and imprinted the paraphrase on his license plate – G2G2GIV – to make sure his personal philosophy stands out wherever he goes.  Mr. Satterwhite is a wise man.  I understand his philosophy to be “if everybody is giving then everybody is getting,” based on the concept:

“Give and it will be given to you.  A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.  For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

- Luke 6:38

The bottom line is that you can’t out-give God.  And the more you give to others, the more God will provide the resources for you to give even more.

The longer Vanessa and I talked, the more I realized our philosophies lined up with each other.  I’ve cited my response before to a LinkedIn question, “What does networking mean to you?”  Here is a snippet of my response.

“[People] I reach out to gain some level of immediate trust do to my proximity to them, whether geographical or relational.  Then it’s up to me to take the first step and add value…And when we meet I’m looking for ways I can offer them value…So my philosophy towards networking is, ‘What can I give?’ I view my role as building community and bringing others together.  I subscribe to the notion of what goes around comes around, and I’ve been amazed more than once at what has come around to me when I’ve least expected it.”

Not that I give to get.  It’s not like that at all.  My reward is in the giving as I surprise even myself with how much I actually have to give sometimes.  And that is the challenge I lay out for myself – to continue to grow in my ability to give.

Economists talk about equity and fairness based on theories graphed on happiness curves.  These are generally based on some population’s or individual’s ability to get stuff.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen economic equity described as one’s ability to give stuff away.  I think we should.  Long-term, enduring happiness does not come from what you get.

Think about it.  Cars rust and break down.  Your home, no matter how expensive, needs a new roof every 20 years.  Even your money in the bank loses value over time due to inflation.  None of those things make me happy.

But no one can take away my ability to give.  No rust.  No inflation.  When I give I get enduring happiness.

Okay, enough of the fluffy smack.  Giving in theory is one thing.  Giving in practice is hard.  But you have to start somewhere.  If you’re a giver, and I know there are thousands of you in Cincinnati, you know how true this is.  If you’re one of the ones wondering how to balance giving with family matters and work schedules, if you just don’t know how to make it happen, then start small.  With a smile towards a co-worker, remembering people’s birthdays, bringing flowers home to your spouse.  And work up from there.  You’ll be amazed at the effect you’ll have on your community.

- Andy

This entry was posted Saturday, July 26th, 2008 at 8:31 pm and is filed under Life. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.