I believe it was Anthony Robbins who originally taught me that one of the needs a human has is to contribute. Well, at the time I heard this, I was all about me, me and me, and what he said there on the stage at the event I attended just didn’t resonate that much with me then. But something has changed. Perhaps it is just part of becoming older or perhaps it is due to the fact that I have now so much more experience, which by the way includes experience with a lot of money and experience without any money and a lot of debt. My experiences have taught me first hand that it really is true what they say, that money does not make you happy. Don’t get me wrong, I would rather have loads of money than none, but it isn’t actually the money that make you happy – it’s just great with all the fun you can have when you do and all the things you can just buy etc. But happiness really is a state of mind and it is something you create in your mind and then from there it materializes.
But when is it then that you usually are the happiest?
Well, I have found that I’m actually exceptionally happy when I can help someone. Perhaps that someone is a friend who I can help with comfort during a challenging time, or a completely new contact I just ran into, who could use my expertise at something and whom I can guide through to their success. And so as time goes by I find that I actually do have a need to feel that I’m contributing in some form or another. Even more of my activities and my focuses seem to underline this come to think of it. Upon reflection, I can actually now in retrospect see that I probably had a great need for this all the time – I just didn’t know that it all pointed back to a need to contribute.
It is in fact a privilege to be able to help others. Whether by donations through charitable events or via offering your expertise and insights or via other forms of assistance that can transform other people’s lives.
I have always given a little to various charities, charities usually benefiting certain specific recipients, but I usually didn’t do this in much deliberate form. This is changing within me and I’m finding much more purposefulness and drive in my participation towards what I am donating to. I’m also getting much conscious about how I can contribute more, more in terms of donations, but also more of me, my experiences, my insights etc.
Below you may find links to some of the few charities I’m engaged with to some extend. Perhaps I might even ask of you to consider donating towards these also, so that we can collectively be of even more assistance towards the charitable cause.
LiveStrong
Team Hole In The Wall
