FSS Newsletter :: October 2002

All Life Wishes to Reward Its Benefactors

by Jim Rohn

Parents, leaders, employers, teachers and volunteers - have you discovered one of the great positive mysteries of life? Here it is - All life seems to wish to reward its benefactor.

If you become the benefactor, you will receive these incredible rewards. If you are the benefactor to the garden, the flowers seem to bloom and say, "Look at me. Look how bright and beautiful I am because you took care of me. I wish to reward you by being beautiful, lovely, spectacular."

Your own children, if you become their benefactor, they want to reward you with their progress. I taught my daughters how to swim. And my daughters would say, as they were about to dive, "'Daddy, daddy watch, watch, look, look, watch" as if to say; 'look what you have created here, you've spent the time with me and now look at me. This is the payoff.' Watch me dive." I was their benefactor.

I have found that all life wishes to respond to the benefactor. The ones who give their time, give their effort, give their patience, give their ideas, the benefit of their experience. Whatever has benefited from that, wishes to respond. The crop wishes to grow. The child wishes to show you how much progress they've made.

And remember that whatever you move towards tends to move towards you. Just as when you move toward education, and education starts to seek you out. Or when you move toward progress and progress seems to want to now embrace you. You will find that, just as predictably, as you move towards helping those in your care they will wish to repay you with their own success and accomplishments.

Some Practical Advice For Life

Experience everything you can. Ask questions; ask for the truth and the reality that comes with it, through honesty is the only way you will get to know a person and be able to step past the boundaries that we all put up.

Learn from peoples mistakes, but more importantly know when it is ok to make your own, because no one will do everything right. Never hold back, even if you think you are wasting your time, there will always be something to learn from any experience, it just depends on the way you look at things.

Prepare and expect the drama and uncertainty that comes with doing something different. Be ready for it, plan, and think of it as a personal challenge of your skills. If you can diffuse a problem or cope with a situation that might seem out of control to others, then you may have already won a battle.

Keep a positive attitude. Do not wallow in your own frustrations and poor luck. People do not want to be with losers; by always portraying your own self-pity you will push away the people that will really be able to help you.

Do not lead people on if you think you are in a situation that is over your head. Be honest. Stop and get out. In the long run you will be better off.

Be a role model, inspire, push and motivate people. Through other's fortunes you will be repaid in some form or another even if it does not happen immediately, it will. If someone else becomes a better person due to your influence than you have both gained respect and gratitude from the situation.

Above all be a good friend. Friendship is the one thing that you will miss the most if it is taken away or lost. Always become friends first this applies to every relationship you make. Always try to build that bridge of friendship between people; without it, you are just going through the motions. Never, never burn bridges.