For instance, give food to a hungry person, but teach them how to feed themselves. (Haven’t I heard that somewhere?) I have kept that in mind as I do what I can to be of help this year. I try to volunteer myself in a manner that makes best use of my talents. Now I realize that benefits to me are far beyond effort I give most of time! My rewards include gratitude from my clients and peers, building of my own confidence in my abilities, a much larger network of people, and lots more opportunities! What a deal!

My question to you is … to whom, or what, can you give a little bit to this year?

"Sure I did. But I discovered I couldn't afford them."

"Too bad. Because you'll never be a contributor without them."

"Hey, listen! I'm a contributor. I go to work everyday. I go to church on Sunday. I pay my taxes."

"That's not contributing. That's coasting. Contributing is when you start giving a little more of yourself than duty demands."

"Like what, for instance?"

"Like for instance your talents, abilities and experiences. Where do you think dreams come from? When you're good at something you want to contribute that good. This becomes a dream. Deny dream and you slouch into a bundle of complaints."

"That sounds very high-minded. It also sounds irresponsible. I may not like my life right now but it's only one I've got. So unless I win lottery, I just have to keep prodding same road."

"Actually...you don't. You can change your life by simply making every day a contributing day. Do something...maybe several somethings...that make a contribution toward one or more dreams. These somethings don't have to be big or time consuming. But they will tend to change your focus from complaining to contributing.

"And I suppose you think payoff will be a lot of big time answers to all my dreams."

"Maybe. Maybe not. It doesn't matter. The real payoff is feeling better about yourself and your future."

"And what will your contribution be?"

"Why I thought you had that figured out. I'm your friendly butt kicker."

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