Today is Blog Action Day. A day to give back. Bloggers were asked to dedicate our articles to the issue of poverty. So instead of writing about customer service, training or success, today I’m doing my part to bring attention to this world-wide challenge.
We are all incredibly rich in this country. Most of us have food and water and live in relative peace. We don’t go to sleep at night while there’s war going on around us. We have electricity, medical care and great opportunities to learn, grow and transform our lives. Still, we all know people right here, who, in spite of all this, are poor. Poor of spirit. Stuck in thinking about what they don’t have. Travel is a great eye-opener. I was never the same after visits to Mexico, Nepal, Thailand, even Venezuela. When you see the pain and suffering of people, what they put up with day in and day out and you realize all that we take for granted you begin to see how wealthy we really are.
Poverty is a painful, raw and harsh reality for so many on our earth right now. When there’s no food or water and your people are dying, it’s difficult to even contemplate extending or doing good for someone else. But we can. We have the mental and emotional space to help, because bad as we think things have gotten, we have so very much. Our lives are so abundant.
This brings me to Tony Robbins’ interview with Sir John Templeton who dollar by dollar; investment by investment got to be a billionaire. When asked about his success, Sir John alluded to tithing (giving 10% to charity) as one of the most powerful actions people can take. He said he had never met anyone who tithed regularly who hadn’t been greatly prospered or made happier by tithing. Generous action fills our hearts and somehow calls forth even more wealth and abundance towards us. But that’s not why we give. We give because that’s the kind of people we want to be: grateful, generous, caring, builders.
Here’s my call to action:
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Decide right now something you can give, share or contribute to others less fortunate than you.
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Do something about it right now, today, right here.
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If you need ideas, please visit my friend Janey’s site and be sure to check out the video.
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For even more ideas visit this site .
This is a great article. WIth so much need all over the world, we sometimes forget to focus on the problems in our own backyard. One more way for people to help (especially kids at risk of dropping out of school) is to mentor, volunteer or find ways to support their local schools and community.
Thanks, TK, for reminding us that there are immediate ways to help right here, right now. Mentoring and helping kids is a powerful way to help strengthen our US brothers and sisters, help our educational system and our country.