It
is pure delight to listen to someone very accomplished share their life
experiences. That is why an Oprah’s
Master Class really interests me. The other night I was struck by something
that was said on that show. It was not a novel idea or something that I didn’t
already know, but something I hadn’t really heard so clearly said by someone so
successful, like Jane Fonda. The main point was that we should always pay it
forward, no matter how much or how little we have in life. We each have our
blessings, in different shapes and forms. That was it. Simple concept, right?
What
went on to be discussed, and what I pondered extensively, was that most people
in the world today are obsessed with their own lives. It’s all about “will I
get a promotion? Where can I park my car? How can I cross the street faster?
How can I make more money?” So on, and so forth. People spend a great deal of
time obsessing about how to get ahead, rather then actually doing something
that’s good for the person standing next to them or to the world as a whole.
In
the movie Pay It Forward (Warner Bros. 2000), a young boy comes up with a
concept that for every generous act done to him, he must pay forward with three
generous acts to three different people, and tell each one of them, to do the
same for three others. A simple concept that could make peoples lives that much
better and as a ripple effect create a psychic change in entire communities and
then possibly in the world. Somehow that concept did not catch on.
Most
people make lame excuses instead of paying forward. “I don’t make enough money
to make donations, why should I give money to this cause when it’s the
government’s job to take care of this issue?” And it goes on, one after the
next. But the point here is not how much money can you give back, or how much
time you have to dedicate to doing volunteer work; it’s how do you behave in
society, in your daily life? How do your daily actions affect the world that
surrounds you? And then maybe, depending on who you are, what job you have and
how much money you make, what type of bigger contributions can you make to the
betterment of the world?
I
have worked with many successful models and artists in the entertainment
industry. Over the years I have come across many generous souls who have
contributed to a plethora of causes. I have also met many who simply go through
life as if it was a party, with no consequences and no interest in doing
anything for anyone else. One of my most inspiring muses is one of my most
loyal clients, a successful model who has always worked extremely hard for obtaining
success. Proportionally at the same time, this girl has always taken a portion
of her time (and her earnings) to apply towards charity, volunteer work and
political lobbying to change the roots of the problems. Her goal, from the very
start, when nobody knew her name, was to achieve fame so that she could
leverage change. She had made a conscious decision that if she was going to
give up university to a life of globetrotting under the spotlight, then it
better be worth it. She has, to some extent, accomplished all that.
The
story illustrates that we must always give back. We must always pay it forward,
in any scale that we can. It’s from those little acts, of holding the elevator
to the person who is running a little behind to making a five dollar donation
to a homeless shelter (or whatever else interests you) or giving a lecture on
what you’re an expert on to those who wish to learn. A little help goes a long
way in our world today.
People
who give something back and share their fortunes with the world, generally live
a much happier and fuller life. What I didn’t know when I was younger and I
know now, is that by giving myself to others I find real fortune. Happiness
lives in honest altruism. The idea that I could go through life not giving
anything in return for all the good that came to me is daunting.
My
dreams truly blossomed and concretized after I started giving myself away to
others and also discovered I could learn and let my life be enriched by each
and every one of these encounters. There is so much we can learn from day to
day life, but it takes an open mind to see it and an open heart to understand
it.
The
real master class is not on Oprah Winfrey’s network, it is all around us.
