A Scary Thought…
Over the weekend I was privy to some amazing advice from two historical figures: The first, is a man of world-renowned prominence and the other is a personal celebrity of my own…
Richard Branson, CEO of The Virgin Group and a Big Brother in Business, had a post from his team that profiled the prolific US businessman, John D. Rockefeller and his life prior to his wealth accumulation. As previously mentioned on this forum, Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie famously engaged in a “give-off” throughout their lives as major philanthropists, but the one thing that this article highlighted and stood out to me was his propensity to tithe. I found this very interesting because all throughout history we see those that share indeed have more to share, but what we should really take note of, is that his charitable habit didn’t BEGIN we he had BILLIONS (in today’s dollars), but rather when he only had nickels and dimes. The article also goes on to highlight his charitable nature with the giving of gifts of dimes to children. (Read Article Here: http://www.virgin.com/entrepreneur/the-philosophy-of-epic-entrepreneurs-john-d-rockefeller)
The other historical figure, I’d like to highlight is my very own grandfather. This past Sunday, I had the pleasure and opportunity to visit my grandfathers’ church and hosted their ‘Family & Friends Day’. The highlight of this session for me was that during the final remarks as my grandfather addressed the entire congregation, he was speaking directly to me and imparting wisdom that seemed so simple, but was truly life changing in that very moment. He simply went on to say, ‘Tony… you have so many options in life, but do what brings joy to you and others as you serve God.’ What I thought was most amazing in this moment was his highlight to the reference of joy as it relates to other people…
What I noticed courtesy of John D. Rockerfeller and My Grandfather as I made my way back home was that when you give to others from that which you have your life is just that much better because of it. We all have something we can give or share. It could be monetary or even just that of time, but give something. Don’t wait until the moment that you are billionaire or well seasoned in your years to give finally give back… start now and watch it grow. And in that… that is when I realized the scary thought: ’…That we would have waited our entire lives to make an impact on this world without just starting where we are with what we have.’
What Is A Scary Thought for You?
