To Keep What You Have, You Have To Give It Away!

“To Keep What You Got, You Have to Give It Away!”

Hello fellow tribes’ members. While we are surrounding our friends with up and advocating for more joy, I came across this quote while watching an interview on YouTube. It struck me. During the interview, it was almost a flippant, throw away comment when the person being interviewed was talking about giving back. Awhile ago, I wrote about deposits and withdrawals (https://thesuntimesnews.com/g/dexter-mi/n/147360/deposits-and-withdrawls). This rings similar, but a little different. Please allow me to elaborate.

To give something away means we no longer want it. Think nouns (remember that article?https://thesuntimesnews.com/g/dexter-mi/n/165722/world-full-nouns-be-ve…), think stuff. I no longer place a high value on this thing so I will give it to someone who will have a greater value for it. We do it all the time. I routinely give gently used items to Faith in Action, various veterans’ groups, and The Salvation Army. Repurposing our stuff so someone else can benefit from it is far better than throwing it away and into a landfill. When our son was little, I had no issue turning in his outgrown clothes for right-sized clothing at resale shops. It’s good and positive on so many levels. Give it away and don’t think twice about it.

What about verbs? What about actions? What about activity? Do we give away our time and energy so easily? Can you give your time away mentoring someone, or building a house for the less fortunate or some other skill or trade as easily as an old shirt? If not, why not? To keep what you got, you have to give it away. My brain is full of useless sports trivia and sayings. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act, but a habit.” -Aristotle. I didn’t even have to look that one up. It’s just in there. Another one is “the early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.” Those are fun to throw around at parties and get-togethers, but those aren’t the sayings floating around in the old brain bucket I want to talk about today. The one I keep coming back to (other than the one I started this article with) is, “The best way to master something is to teach it.” Let me say that one again.

The best way to master something is to teach it.

It’s easy to fill a box and help those less fortunate with some old clothes and a few pantry items. Hear me friends, I am not downplaying that one iota. It is of utmost importance in our ever more expensive world to help those who need it by donating things. The challenge this week is to find that one thing. Just one thing you are good at. The one thing people have asked your advice on. Let’s find people who could use that. Let’s donate verbs. Let’s donate actions and energy to help the less fortunate.

What are you good at? Could you donate an hour? Is there a place out there where someone could go on a Saturday morning and learn from our tribal experts on such things as gardening, basic home fixes, or finding a better job? I’m thinking it may be time to create a place if none exists. Let’s all have a think on this and find a way to donate some verbs to help people tackle the challenges out there. I’m willing to give a few hours. Who’s with me?

Oh, the quote? It wasn’t from a world leader, business mogul or environmental activist. It was from James Hetfield, the lead singer of Metallica. Inspiration and motivation are all around us dear friends. We need only look.

Steve Gwisdalla is a Dexter resident and owner, Chief Smile-Ologist, Head Verb Donator and all-around happy guy in charge of BetterPlace Consulting. Let’s find some time and a place to donate some actions to our communities. Reach out to him at steve@betterplacemgmt.com