"It's not about me." That's my personal mission statement, and I check in with it pretty often because it's easy to get distracted by work, by responsibilities. Then there's the economy, war in the Middle East, the health-care debate. You get the picture.
Keeping my focus on others helps me have a clear vision about who I am and why I'm here. And that's fundamentally to help others. It's no news that there are a lot of hard-working people who are hurting. They've lost jobs and their homes. Their families have needs they can't possibly meet.
We're such a consumer-based society. We have so much — modern conveniences, pleasurable pursuits.
Every day, I meet people who are trying to fill their inner human need by buying things. I've learned that when you stop thinking about yourself and start thinking of others, suddenly, there's clarity. Helping others helps you in ways that stretch beyond personal boundaries.
Students to seniors helped
There are so many people in Middle Tennessee right now who need help, so one of the ways my wife, Deb, and I maximize our reach is with an annual commitment to United Way of Metropolitan Nashville. If you break it down, it's about $10 a week, which equals lunch out or a couple of Starbucks stops.
What can $10 a week do? Every dollar United Way invests in helping seniors stay in their homes instead of going into a nursing home saves $91. Every dollar invested in preventing drug-related crime saves $848. United Way dollars change lives. Just ask the kids who participate in the Read-to-Succeed program that prepares high-risk preschoolers for kindergarten. Of the kids who graduate from Read to Succeed, 99.4 percent test at average or higher for school readiness.
It's easy to be blind to the needs of others; that is, until you meet the teenager at Oasis house who says that program, which receives United Way funding, saved her life. Or you learn that calls for food to the 211 emergency line have risen 65 percent this year and United Way is helping fill pantries all over town. People are hurting, and we can help. Pledge a dollar a week; give $10 a month. If you can afford more, by all means do so. When you do, United Way will multiply the value to help people efficiently and in a targeted way.
So step up. Life isn't about increasing your net worth to the point of unhappiness. It's about helping your neighbors. When you support the 133 programs at 63 agencies that are part of United Way of Metropolitan Nashville, you strengthen your commitment to your community and you help the people who need you most.
Lee McCroskey is director of sales development for the
Southwestern Company.
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20091004/OPINION03/910040376/1054/Giving%20a%20little%20goes%20a%20long%20way