Filed under: Giving Back/Community Impact
Welcome home!
The trip to the airport was uneventful. The flight was easy. Customs lines were long, but not so long as to cause griping. I was so jazzed when I got home, I couldn’t sleep for a long time.
I thought about the children we helped. I thought about the friends I went with and how much better I know them. I prayed a little easier and a little longer than usual. Then I drifted off for about six hours. Sometimes sleep is fitfully, sometimes it’s peaceful. I slept thankful.
We made it back, all alive (perhaps more alive than before we left), no injuries, bodily functions functioning mostly as intended. And we would all go back again. Maybe not tomorrow, OK, not tomorrow. Not even next week, but everyone I asked (and I asked everyone) said they want to go on another mission trip. This does not surprise me one bit.
When you leave your comfort zone, God has more room to work in your life. It’s not that he won’t speak during the day-to-day, it’s that you can’t hear him as well against all that noise. God is a perfect gentleman, he will not shout or compete with lesser gods.
But man, he can work when we listen. He can show you more of what he intends you to be. He highlights how kind he’s been and where you or I have left the path. He shows us a vision of what our lives can mean to others and how great love really is (and the commonness of hate and selfishness). Sometimes he offers more adventure to a dull existence, sometimes it’s more compassion to one who tends to look the other way. Sometimes God wants us to hear old words in new ways, or remember what’s really important. Everybody gets a custom-made lesson from the Father that loves us beyond our wildest imagination.
God always shines the light on stuff we need to stop ignoring. It’s just easier to see that light in foreign places than in the familiar.
Over the next several days, I’m hunting time to rethink some of the memories from our team’s Guatemala trip (the first mission trip for K&N Management), and relay those thoughts to you. You know about the Ferris Wheel and the Club Level of our hotel, but you don’t know that Sarah can spill a 16-ounce beverage on a tile floor and hide it from a chaperone–such skill is so rare these days.
Finding time to tell you stories is also a skill. It won’t be easy to find that time. For one, many memories compete for attention. You know nothing much of the harrowing mountain climb to the edge of insanity last Sunday. Nor have you heard about the rather dull church service, attended by those left down the hill, that turned out to be kind of important. You don’t know about tumulos, textile traders, or whole fried fish eyes. You should know about these things. Each one has many facets and parts running through it.
Some of my parts are not sure what’s been run through them, but they do not like it. My body is tired and angry, but I’m glad to be home.
We got home Thursday night, and Friday I stopped by the office to a welcome home that made me feel important. I was not expecting it, and I don’t think anyone else on our team was either. We work for and with people who are, at their core, kind, loving, and encouraging. I thank God every day for them.
By Friday afternoon, I was back to listening and helping people beat their problems and find some peace. Saturday, I was able to rest, and today (Sunday) introduced me to a couple of emergencies. I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t depend on God to work through me to help people. (I hope they feel his hand comforting them now.) Seriously, I do not know how so many people handle life’s pain without being able to give it to the God who cares. I sure can’t do it, and I sure like seeing him work.
We saw him at work in Guatemala. I see him working here every day. Unlike me, he never gets tired and he never makes mistakes.
Today, I started working on our next trip instead of watching football. I know, it’s out of character, but I couldn’t help myself.
I’ll get back to telling stories about our trip soon enough, but for today, I have to look forward. We have a stunning opportunity to demonstrate God’s love to others. Let’s not hold back.
Filed under: Giving Back/Community Impact
We always write about the fun first. Given the last several posts, you may think we went to Guatemala and just made friends, went to church, and laughed. While that’s a valid perception, we also broke the sweat barrier.
Guatemalan landscapers clearing playground
We are your Guatemalan landscapers. Experts in the art of block-wall-building, debris removal, and playground and pathway construction. We are ants on a hill made of cake.
Following the 100-year floods that drenched Guatemala last October, I thought we’d be lucky to find a few half-hardened bags of cement. I seriously imagined us nailing foundation forms, tying some steel, then mixing and pouring a half-yard of concrete.
I wasn’t even close, which was not really a surprise. Team members will tell you two mantras for mission trips: be flexible and pack light. The latter assists the former. I’ve attended and led a few mission expeditions. Precisely 100% have veered from the plan into unforeseen territory – it’s part of the fun.
Our first day at the school, we toured the dining room, the offices, the kitchen, the classrooms, and, finally, the new rooms. Our happy guide showed us all the work they’d done in November with the materials we sent ahead. He proudly explained, “We were sad when you cancelled your trip. But when we heard you (rescheduled), we stopped working!”
What?
You stopped?
Why’d you stop?
They stopped to give us something to do. They were thinking of us. Seriously, they could’ve finished the work. Easily. These are people that pick coffee at 8,000 feet off 8,000 foot high hills on a 50 degree slope. A little landscaping and block work is a vacation for them. I’ll get back to that in a few words.
In case you’re wondering, we postponed the trip because of a killer flood that dumped 61 inches of rain in 20 days. Reports told us that over 80 sections of the highway were closed and 100 people died. We watched a gut-wrenching video of a dog being swallowed by a sink-hole that ate the street from under him. (On the way out of Guatemala City, Ruth pointed out the neighborhood in the video and told us that a policeman and two people in a car also died as it swallowed the road from under them.)
We rescheduled the trip a few days later but word did not reach our hosts for several months. They thought we had canceled so they got to work. When they knew we were coming, they left some stuff for us to do.
Smart folks. They knew that if we worked on the school, we would feel a little ownership. How many of you who worked on our projects feel like you own a piece of Emma Long Park or the Habitat house you helped build? Not own in the sense that you can keep everyone else out. Own in the sense that you’re genuinely interested in the people to whom you gave the gift. Like saying, “Here, I made this for you. Enjoy it.”
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That’s how I feel because we were able to build some block walls, a playground, and a path for kids. Everyone that went wants to go back.The parents, teachers and administrators at the school will use the office enclosed by the walls, the playground, and the path, but the kids are the payoff. We went to help children. We worked for the children. Let’s face it, kids tug hearts.
Lack of air tugs hearts too. So we sweated. Digging at pushing dirt at 6,000 above sea level is harder. The air carries less oxygen, your heart beats faster to keep up, you tire more quickly, and the sun is more intense.
We dug down a small mountain of broken concrete blocks, rebar and trash encapsulated in dirt. The whole thing was compacted by all that rain and tamped into a solid base. It took picks, hoes, and shovels to break loose (no Bobcat for this project). We leveled the lot one wheelbarrow at a time, in a day. This surprised our hosts.
The walls were expertly built by our girls, none of whom had ever attempted such a thing. I was proud of them. Before they started, the chief block layer told me that girls could not handle the work. In fairness, he’d never seen a girl put up a block wall – in his world, he couldn’t imagine it. I asked him to humor me and let them try. They excelled, of course (pun intended).
The path was like the playground. Pick. Shovel. Wheelbarrow. Done, half day.
We finished all the work they had for us in a day and a half. They expected it to take twice that. I remain very proud of my team of Guatemalan landscapers. I’ve sent each of them an invitation to do my yard next week – must have their email addresses wrong.
Filed under: Giving Back/Community Impact
We lost our internet connection for most of the day yesterday, so we were not able to post an update. No biggie! We have, however, created a Flickr account to share some of our MANY photos. Check it out: http://www.flickr.com/photos/73986441@N06. We’ll continue to add more as we go.
As this is being typed, we have all packed up and loaded ourselves in the van–leaving La Libertad. A bitter-sweet day. Words cannot describe how grateful we are for the kindness, generosity and hospitality that has been shown to our team. We arrived just a few short days ago–curious, anxious and unaware of what to expect, truly. We leave with memories, friendships and humbled by our experience. The people of this small town will forever hold a place in each of our hearts. We will NEVER forget you.
Gini speaks for all of us (above), her tender heart does a better job than mine of expressing our feelings. We did love the times in LL.
Last night, a small band of our party set out to ride the Ferris Wheel. It is near carnival week and the carnies have set up shop in the street. They’ve erected a three story Ferris Wheel that would likely rival that of the State Fair of Kansas or perhaps Wyoming. It has fluorescent tubes running along its circumference, wooden slat chairs, and stinks of diesel and grease. During test runs, this monstrosity is observed doing 40 revolutions per minute. I counted. As soon as I saw it, I craved a ride, and others are bit with the same bug.
The day we arrived, our guide told us to stay away from the carnival, “Bad people, not so nice, go there. You will not like them.” I was … intrigued. On Sunday, no less than a member of the church board warned us off the carnival in the strongest possible terms. We asked to take his daughter on the Mighty Ferris Wheel, thinking ourselves noble for offering to accompany a small child in her moment of fear and adrenaline. “No, senor, por favor!” the man said in a most serious tone. “We do not take our children to the carnival, it is not safe.”
Hmm, I found this odd and explained that our county carnivals represent a sort of rite of passage. His body language led me to suspect that he now thinks Norte Americanos to be a crude breed, especially Tejanos. (This is not altogether an untrue observation.) “Senor, la carnival es solamte por Catolicas y borrachos.” A left-handed challenge if ever I’ve heard one.
Our friend’s final statement hooked us better than had he said the place was filled with zebras, chimpanzees, and tattoo artists. Catholics and drunks? We had to go. We waited, biding our time like teenagers at church camp.
We waited until our last night. Waited until everyone else had retired. Waited until our chaperone locked himself in for the night. Then we cheated our way out of the building like Tom Sawyer and his Indians headed for the forbidden zone, the Carnival.
With the stealth of a Navy Seal Team, we crept up the block. OK, really, we were cutting up as soon as we got out of earshot. Craig walked up to the five guys operating the Ferris Wheel and asked how much to ride.
“Tomorrow.”
“What?!? We leave tomorrow.”
“Then we see you next year.”
“We will pay.”
“No. Sorry. Come back tomorrow.”
Clearly, La Libertad has something to hide. Satan lives there. The Grinch walks her streets. Candy is made of steamed carrots and the only pies are minced meat. All shoes are dress shoes. Sermons are long, church is every night, and you have to dress up. Christmas is only celebrated on leap years. The Red Queen is in charge. La Libertad was in chains.
International Tebowing is better than local Tebowing
Sadness reigned until we walked up the block, Tebowed in front of the Christian radio station, and found a friendly convenience store (Tecate!). Order was restored. La Libertad was liberated. The clouds parted. Our hearts re-inflated. We returned to the club level of our hotel, scanned the full-moonlit terrain and laughed away the blues.
Who needs a Ferris Wheel? We have friends.
Guatemalans go to church a lot. If I had to guess why, I’d say it’s because there’s not a lot else going on, at least not in La Libertad. That, or perhaps the cultural practices of Roman Catholic churches (daily mass) have rubbed off on the evangelicals. Either way, they go a lot and they schedule their going at times odd to us.
Church is a daily thang
Our crew was invited to several services, all in the evening. I recognized several American Christian hymns sung in Spanish (fun to try to follow), and a few that may have been indigenous. The services followed a recognizable pattern: four songs, offering, mini-sermon, special offering, another mini-sermon, more singing, main sermon, more songs, hugs. In one case, they were raising money for the school so we had a third offering (don’t hate, this is how they do church in another country).
Hugs? Yay-uh! The Guatemalan church folk love to hug, and the kids, ladies, and a couple of the guys will even kiss your cheek. Awesome. I must not have gotten enough hugs as a kid (no offense mom, I’m just speculating), because I like ‘em.
Anyway, Sundays are a little different schedule. Church is so good, they go twice! They have a morning service then they come back for Sunday School from 2:00-4:30 in the afternoon. Uh. Yeah. I was expecting some culture shock, but when I was asked to deliver the Bible lesson between two and nap-thirty, I got a little nervous. I envisioned the rare privilege of putting people to sleep in two tongues, a task usually reserved for my Pentecostal brothers.
When our group heard of this spectacular opportunity (Jack is giving the Sunday School lesson – whoop!!), 60% decided to go climb a mountain instead. 11,000 foot vertical with no path, no guide, no water, no shoes, snow, 80 pound packs, stalked by man-eating burros. OK, the packs were only eight pounds. They said they’d leave at 5:00am and be back in time for the message (wink, wink). Didn’t fool me.
Didn’t fool Brian either. But he, Trina, and Donna all had injuries that prevented them going up the hill to the place where locals claim the devil tempted Jesus. Wait, what?
I feigned concern over teaching for 2-1/2 hours. Really? Cake. I can teach all day, kids. Start in Genesis, work toward maps. Gladly I asked the second most important question a speaker can ask, “How long do I need to entertain these people?”
45 minutes.
It turned out that Sunday School follows the regular format of songs, pre-pre sermon, more songs, pre-sermon, several offerings, main teaching, hugs. Glory! I can handle a 45 in my sleep, or in their sleep for that matter.
Then I remembered I’d have a guy translating everything into Espanol, so that cuts it in half. Good thing I dropped that Rosetta Stone training, huh? This was, actually, a problem.
Anyone that ever met a preacher plying his trade knows that we are experts at dragging things out. If airline pilots were preachers, the crash rate would go up faster than Lady Gaga’s knickers — few of us can land the plane in the allotted time. Most preachers cannot make a sensible point (this is why people avoid church like a shirtless guy yelling at himself walking down the middle of the street, which we saw immediately before the service began). In reality, yakking for 2.5 hours is easy for a preacher. What’s tough is speaking for 20 minutes.
Twenty minutes only allows one, crystal-clear point. One dagger to the heart of a matter.
I chose love as the matter, and I chose to hit the target in fifteen minutes to allow ten minutes for questions. “Let’s delight our guests,” yes ma’am that was in my head.
Love as a topic seemed fairly natural in this church because they are lovey. The hug part, remember? So I taught on love, and I expected hugs.
Specifically, I taught on the meaning of John 13:34-35: A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. ~Jesus
Jesus giving a new command? So, is this the 11th commandment? Yes it is. He had a hand in writing the first ten, so giving us a new one is well within his range. So, we have 11 Commandments to memorize? Not exactly.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke all remembered Jesus reducing the Ten Commandments to two (see Matt 22): Love God, and love your neighbor as you love yourself. The second one makes you (or me) the measure of how we love others. In the new commandment, Jesus makes himself the measure, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
Jesus changed the game. He moved the standard from neighborly to sacrificial. Sacrificial love is tough. It costs me something. It’s painful because I have to share your pain, and you may reject me. I have to listen to your junk and try to understand, and I have to love people in spite of their sin, corruption and my eager desire to judge them and smugly think I’m better, which I’m not. I’m just not. I can’t do sacrificial love, the new standard is too high.
And that’s exactly why Jesus raised the bar. He raised it to a level we cannot hit — a level where we need him to give us a boost.
In later chapters, Jesus tells us we can do nothing without him (John 15:5). He adds that the world will misunderstand and hate us for being so loving. Then he tells us how to do it all. He says that he will send the Holy Spirit to help us. Help us what? Help us love each other as he loved us.
Next time you meet a mean, judgmental Christian, tell her to read the new commandment. Then smile, try to give her a hug. She probably needs it.
Oh dear Lord Jesus, help me. It just keeps getting better and better. What do y’all want to know about most, the AMAZING work accomplished today? Tres bricklaying ninja chicks? Shovlin’ Nolan? I’m-at-Warmuth? Or Crystal Meth, the girl that attracts t-r-o-u-b-l-e?
The latter, of course.
El Mercado Suprema!
Walking to church, Crystal attracted a couple of locals. I do not mean that in a good way. I mean they saw her, fell into an instant trance, and waited through dinner (served epic Guatemalan-Italian food con salsa y black beans – not lying) until she returned to the street. She had the affect of harsh drugs on those boys, instant addiction. Crystal Meth.
It was creepy, but her new bf did have this hat. Man, I wish we had a picture. My description is insufficient, but imagine slick black cowboy hat with sides pressed all the way up like 1950s Grand Ole Opry. When I say slick, I am not making a fashion comment – it was slick like vinyl. Cheap, waxed vinyl. We named him Gato Negro (it’s not backwards, it is “Cat of Blackness”), the dude was dark.
They (Gato and his friend De los Pequenos escorted us all the way to the hotel and Tom stood in the street in a menacing way. He went to virtual Warmuth mode. Way cool and chivalrous.
Crystal is “ready for Austin.”
Crystal Meth - she builds walls to keep the cats out
Let us tell you what we learned today:
- How to build a cinder-block wall.
- The best spaghetti in the world is in La Libertad…and it slams with salsa.
- The people are polite the first day, but stare on day 2. We ARE the minority here. Craig saw a girl run inside, yelling “Gringos!” and then came out with her little brother to watch us walk by.
- Cabs are free for the ladies…we think.
- Guatemalan kids have never seen a Kindle Fire, but they pick up on Fruit Ninja rather quickly.
- What does the rooster say when it crosses the road? Ask Craig and Tom.
- The kids here make pretty good photographers. At least this one little girl, Lisa.
- They use tools until they are completely disintegrated. Just because the handle is broken, doesn’t mean you need a new hammer.
- We learned tons of Spanish words. And, in return, some of the kids here learned tons of English words.
- Tom and Craig learned that you do not need to speak Spanish to the English translator. #Fact
- “Rooster” tastes great. Again, ask Craig and Tom…and Jay.
- The roosters have no curfew. They work from 10:00 p.m.-All Day.
- If you tell a kid you can ride his tiny bicycle, be prepared to demonstrate.
- Trina is a great project manager.
- Brian makes having hay on your bottom look awesome.
- OSHA and this city have never met. (no permit no problem)
- Fresh coconut and coconut water tastes AMAZING.
- In fact, there is no strange UFO music playing throughout the city as you meander about. It’s Trina’s phone.
We’re talking fave moments again because, frankly, that’s all we have had. This is by far the best group I’ve ever mission-tripped with. Right now, Brian is watching redundant Guatemalan MTV that none of us understands. This is awesome, but not a favorite moment.
Volcano toot
Seeing a volcano blow off steam live and maybe 25 miles away was pretty freaky awesome. Yes, we did. It was National Geographic live and in person.
But the best by far was Jay driving up the last hill to La Libertad. The hill might be 35-40 degree incline. All dirt. We fishtailed through each of the perhaps 40 switchbacks. Craig and I were in the back slamming each other and trying to out-holler Trina, who was looking for a way to jump out as she was dead certain we would plunge off a 400 foot cliff at any moment. We did no plunging because Jay is Guatemala-Nascar-certified, which is almost as good as being from North Carolina.
The last row of that van was rodeo cowboy-level excitement and just as crazy as getting kissed by 30 women in the church, which also happened. There’s just no way to really convey the panic and sky-jumping fun we felt on either occasion.
Oh yeah, the coffee was great too ;^]’
Most memorable/favorite moments of the day from the rest of the team:
Sarah: Hiking uphill for nearly fifteen minutes gave us a chance to get a little exercise in. Much needed exercise and sweat. We didn’t bring our heart-rate monitors, but we’re certain we got the blood flowing.
Jay: Tumulos! A.K.A. Guatemalan speed bumps…and lots of them. Brian’s backseat driving is a close second.
Trina: Being in Guatemala City—before we started our vertical trip up the mountain. :)
Craig: Witnessing Tom introduce himself to one of the ladies in La Libertad, “Ello Guvner.” Yes he did.
Donna: I wish everyone could experience the love, kindness and generosity that was shown to us this evening by the people in this city. I’m quickly humbled and inspired to be better.
Tom: The incredible terrain and steep mountains. It amazes me how the people are able to create a sustainable life treading up and down these cultivated slopes several times a day. Brave folks.
Crystal: The homemade mini tortillas that were especially made for us by ladies from the church. I had four—but who’s counting?
Brian: Ruth’s (the Missionary Venture’s host) speech she gave at tonight’s service, while they had our group stand on stage. She was compassionate, endearing and full of love.
Gini: The group of children that sang for us at a church we visited in Huehuetenango. It was so unexpected and super sweet—especially the toddler standing in the front row (red shirt—see below). Then we hung out with them for a bit in their “playground” area—kicking a soccer ball, eating too many cookies, playing with balloons and realizing, kids are kids. No matter what part of the world you travel to, they ALL speak the same language. #AhHaMoment
Oh yeah: we saw a goat on top of a bus and a horse directly outside Tom’s car window.
Filed under: Giving Back/Community Impact
Where's our ride?
I am reprinting my posts from the K&N Mission Team site mainly to save them, but also because a few followers of this site did not know about that site. The mountain climbing expedition aren’t here (see K&N site), but team members’ favorite moments are.
- – -
Guatemala City may indicate the end of civilization. They have Wal-Mart. They have Burger King. They have (ultimate doom) Chucky-Cheese. Not even Chucky-Queso, Chucky-flippin-Cheese.
Despite the Westernization and Material Pollution, this is a beautiful country. Volcanoes, y’all. Big ‘uns. EVERYTHING is green, and the temp is 60ish. Truly a beautiful country. Plus, I’ve seen a few people that look like several of my favorite team members. Rudy and Betty!
During our briefing, we learned that we are not, in fact, going to La Democracia. Surprise! (my favorite moment of the day). We’re going to La Libertad, which is near LD (we call it LD because we been to Guatemala now). Still building a school. Still helping kids. This is an awesome trip, and our crew is great fun already.
ver that. Also loved seeing the not-yet-shaving, shotgun-wielding guard watching us (watching the girls is more like it). He stepped aside when the guy who has the job of emptying all the pay phones showed up. His 1982 Celica featured back fenders on the tires. We thought the guy needed shocks until he took about 25 trips into the bank carrying two huge bags of Guatemalan quarters. They make a lot of pay phone calls here.
Wait, we're going where?
Favorite moment of the day from the rest of the team:
Crystal: The Q & A with our host couple, Gilberto and Ruth–and our translator, Jair. They took us to church for a minute.
Brian: The cheeseburger I had on the flight in. FYI–no one else liked it. Weird.
Trina: The crowds of people as we walked out of the airport was absolutely breathtaking. Something you would see in a movie. AND, the pillow my hubby secretly packed for me. 
Craig: The sweet letters my kids made and snuck in my bags.
Gini: Viewing the mountains and volcanoes as we flew into Guatemala City. Big “touristy” moment for us.
Jay: The homemade dinner that was made for us by the field specialists, Bill and Lisa. Enchiladas!
Sarah: We saw a guy transporting like 2000lbs of quarters from the trunk of his car into the bank…2 bags at a time. His car slowly started to rise as he made more trips.
Donna: As we were walking through the town, Brian got cold, so he was on a “mission” to find a sweater. He tried on, what seemed to be an extra small sweatshirt– a grey one with a huge Sylvester the Cat. Jay told the storekeeper that he looked like a sausage. He went with another one.
Tom: Well it would be the hour I stood in line at the bank exchanging everyone’s money for local currency. However, it’s actually the moment I walked out with a wad of cash. Ballin!
Filed under: Career Success, Giving Back/Community Impact, Life Choices, Spiritual Grounding
A friend sent me this article on the key to happiness at work. I think it’s worth the five minutes it takes to read, but here’s a summary in case your food is coming. “To be happy, accept life as it is.”
It’s really not a bad article and I agree with many of the author’s ideas, and also those of the author she quotes (there are a lot of threads in this little garment). What I don’t like is the reliance on Eastern mysticism that claims happiness is found at the end of a road that’s moved a long way from caring.
Acceptance sounds great unless you unpack it. Where does all that acceptance lead?
“Accept the world as it is, and go about your day,” says that to be happy, one should distance himself or herself from the realities of the world. Let go of caring and embrace the junk. The writer calls the junk lemons, but he doesn’t mean lemons. He means junk. See the junk? Accept it. Stop caring and happiness is yours.
But wait, doesn’t caring lead to loving and isn’t love all about caring deeply? If God is distant from the cares of the world, then God does not love…me….or you! Taken to its logical conclusion, this author’s idea warns us off from loving anyone. That makes me unhappy, and I am sure you agree.
Moreover, what would change if no one cared? Nothing would change. We’d still be afraid of our children getting polio.
I wonder how that “accept what you see” idea sells in places like the Mathare slum in Nairobi? For that matter, how’s it sell to that burger cashier who is thinking it’s worth her time stay in school and to persevere toward her dream of advancing in the world? Should she just accept her $10 per hour and leave it at that or do you hope she achieves more? Yeah, me too.
Perhaps a better way to be happy is to look for what needs changing and realize that God is with us in the struggle? Most of what needs changing starts with me. And most of me that needs changing is my attitude! (Haven’t we heard this somewhere before?)
Filed under: Career Success, Giving Back/Community Impact, Life Choices, Relationships, Spiritual Grounding, Wellness
Filed under: Giving Back/Community Impact, Networking, Spiritual Grounding, Wellness
Does it really pay to give back more than one receives? Really? Or is that just something your mom told you so you’d share with your sister (not that it worked)?
I mean, let’s think this through. If the world is governed by some vague universal law that only the fit survive, then a good taker would survive over a good giver, wouldn’t she? Maybe it works if you give to get? So the winners are the ones that give a little back scratch so that they can get a big back rub in return. No, that only works on Wall Street or Hollywood Blvd.
One of my favorite sayings belongs to John Adams: “Facts are stubborn things.” The facts say that it’s far more likely for you to get more of what you want out of life if you give to others. Despite the paradox, the most productive (and most promoted) winners give more than they receive and receive as a result of their giving attitudes.
Former Harvard University professor Shawn Achor discovered the link between happiness and giving back to others. For several years he taught the most popular course at Harvard and wrote an article and started a company to expand his happiness research.
He isn’t the first to make a living off of the happiness formula. Napoleon Hill (author of Think and Grow Rich) spent time learning from one of the most successful men of his day, Andrew Carnegie (yes, he is the Carnegie Hall in NYC guy, which is a very cool place to see a concert). Two of the most successful people of the last century thought that one got ahead by giving. This is not a popular notion today as evidenced by the covers of three dozen magazines at which I just glanced (I’m at Barnes & Noble).
Evidently, it is better to take and sue and strive and wrangle and fight and force oneself ahead. Sure divorces and legal hassles and all sorts of rough stuff will follow all that ahead-getting behavior; employees will hate you, children won’t come home for holidays, and little old ladies will refuse your arm to cross a street, but you’ll get ahead. Or, will you?
Maybe those magazines perpetrate a mythology that does not bear up under stubborn facts. Maybe some magazine editors need us to believe their stories offer paths to success even though they’re actually sensationalized blips and oddities. Believe it or not, dear reader, there was a day when persons with dysfunctional relationships were not celebrated as normal–a day before Us, People, Springer, and TMZ. Today, entertainment media need to pump up something that sells paper and commercial space in this digital age. They need to invent a sensational myth that You. Will. Obey.
If there’s a myth people will buy, you’ll find it on the cover of a magazine, right? Myths like, you can be skinny, happy, and filthy rich by living like Rihanna (‘scuse the bruises), Lindsey (‘scuse the cuffs), Gaga (‘scuse the egg), or Simon (‘scuse the snarky egoism). Can’t argue with success, right? Maybe the facts will help. Stubborn facts.
Smart people like facts, and I think that you are smart enough to see through the fog. I think that at a deeper level you know that life is more about helping others than it is about using others to get ahead. You know that when you lift others, you stand taller, but when you push someone down, you lower yourself in the process.
It turns out that giving back gets you more…at work. Research shows that the most giving people–the work altruists–were more engaged at work, more productive, promoted six times more often, and were generally happier all the way round (read more).
You want to be happier. That’s not a question, of course you want to be happier, who doesn’t? Here’s how: get into that upper tier of people that support others. Most of us are already there for our friends. To climb the happiness ladder, call your parents and support them with love and encouragement (that’s all it takes). To climb higher, instead of pushing buttons on your cell phone during a work break, invite new team members to join you and talk about their lives. Better, invite them to attend Community Impact and Get Fit! events with you.
By including new people, you support them, and help them become more productive, but here’s the amazing truth: you become happier. Even if they turn you down, the act of inviting and supporting others makes the inviter a happier person.
The facts today bear out what Jesus said 2,000 years ago. It is more blessed to give than to receive (Luke 6:38, Acts 20:35). Giving back makes you more engaged, more productive, more likely to be promoted, and happier.
