Giving Greatness
The past couple of weeks I've been moved by a couple of messages; the first was around giving and putting yourself in a position to really give the most you can. Think of the saying, "you can't help the poor if you are one of them.” A few Saturday’s ago, I had the pleasure of watching a simulcast of Dave Ramsey's "total money makeover." My schedule made it difficult to attend and when I first saw the advertising for it I was going to pass. The day after the deadline to register for a ticket, I decided to email the contact person on the poster. They told me there still were a couple of free tickets available and I could even bring a guest. Unfortunately, no one replied to my out reach (the thought of going solo never stopped me before and I wasn't going to allow it to this time). Fast forward to the end of the event. I found myself moved when he completed the section on how to become debt free. The next segment was on wealth building. These segments were good topics but what moved me the most was the closing on "giving." He told a story about leaving a $100 tip for his server at The Waffle House, sitting in his car to watch the expression on the person’s face when they saw the tip on the table. As he put it, "you know the person could use it." I could not help but think, "I want that to be me," and "that's going to be me."
The second message came the following day while visiting a friend's church. The focus of the sermon was, "The Measure of Greatness." The gist was around providing service if you want to be great. Of course that means, to take a line from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, we can all be great because we can all serve. The pastor's message gave us three main points: 1. Greatness is Hardly Recognized, 2. Greatness is not about promotion, 3.Greatness is all about service.
Combining the two messages, here are a couple to-do's or pieces to reflect on. The first is looking at what is in the way of your giving. What personal situation(s) are stopping you from being as big as you could be and giving back on a whole new level. Start changing those things today. The second message reminds me that in the race to be somebody, don't forget about other bodies. Being in the digital age, you may notice that more and more people are bearing their souls, deeps joys and sorrows on the internet. Facebook, Twitter, Myspace,blogging, etc. has allowed more opportunity and access to express our thoughts and feelings to the world. When you scratch the surface and look under the words, many people are just in search of meaning; trying to matter in this world. I have no doubt that you matter to at least one person. The question that we have before ourselves is how much do we want to matter and how much are we really prepared to do in order to matter.
Steps you can take to start on the path towards doing things that matter....to you and others
- Take inventory of where you excel and what you enjoy doing
- Think of people who could benefit from your answer to question #1.
- Connect the dots between #1 and #2
- Lastly, turn it up a notch. What would it take for you to have a deeper, wider reaching impact?
Mike Bruny, CPCC
Certified Life Coach, Speaker, Author
Run the Point Enterprises
www.runthepoint.com
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Author of: "Move the Crowd: 30 Days of Hip Hop Affirmations To Change Your Life." As Seen in The Source Magazine www.runthepoint.com/products
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