GIVE MORE TO GET MORE

Have you ever heard the saying, “give more to get more?” It isn’t one that I’ve always lived by. It’s only been within the last five years that I have adopted this phrase as my truth. Each year that passes, I believe in it more and more, and the benefits that I’m reaping are unbelievable.

There was a time when I was incredibly selfish. I believe in being selfish in terms of taking good care of yourself. For instance, personal grooming, fitness, and other self-care rituals are of high importance in my home. The negative selfishness I’m referring to though, involves behaviours like a lack of community service and charitable donations, or being over-indulgent in purchasing personal wants. I also believe that not having acceptance for people as they are and maintaining expectations of others as though they should be living life to our standards, are forms of selfishness. This, in turn, only hurts us and can even damage relationships that may be important to you. This type of selfishness will have you out of alignment with your creative energy, hindering your capacity for gratitude and joy.

When we give more to get more, it needs to come without expectation of receiving anything in return. It could take years before you see the benefits of thinking this way, but I assure you they will come. I’ve always been quite generous when friends are raising money for causes that are important to them and felt that this was a positive contribution to the world. It wasn’t until I became actively involved in philanthropy that I caught a whiff of the sweet smell created when giving turns into connection. It started with my cycling team, HighGate Racing. I poured a lot of money and time into it, and the friendships and connections that I’ve made are golden. When you love something, hold a great passion for it, and can find a way to offer your time, service, or financial resources towards it, there is a serious energy exchange that occurs. Like attracts like, though it may not happen instantaneously. Hold on tight, and you will see that people will be drawn to you and what you are doing if it is coming from a place of love. For instance, I wasn’t sure how we would find sponsors or who would help out our team. I kept taking baby steps forward though, and now we are one of the most successful teams in Ontario (in my opinion), and I’m not even a quarter of the way to our destination. I intend to have the most well-funded youth development program in sports and the most well-funded cycling team in Canada. I do not doubt that within five years, I will accomplish this goal. Getting out into the community and connecting to like-minded people gets easier as you start to see the benefits come in.

There are so many ways to get involved in your community. My favourite is through support groups and speaking engagements. There are so many events happening every week that you can seek out to volunteer to speak at and share your story or passion. Events like this naturally draw people together that have a common interest and slowly but surely, you will find the tribe that will help lift you up and inspire you to create meaningful change in your life.

I can see how my speaking engagements are going to help me cultivate my desired audience for my blogs and upcoming book that will be published in the Fall of 2020. Stepping out of my comfort zone to get involved in my community has been one of my most significant accomplishments. Pushing fear aside and reaching for what I want even though I had no idea what the end result would be, has definitely gotten me more than I’ve had to give. When you can align your passion with your community service and set healthy boundaries on how much you can give, the magic starts to happen.

What does community service mean to you? Have you found a way to give that also allows you to feed your soul?

Be Well.