{"id":1524,"date":"2013-02-18T15:07:32","date_gmt":"2013-02-18T22:07:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/?p=1524"},"modified":"2013-02-18T15:07:32","modified_gmt":"2013-02-18T22:07:32","slug":"making-a-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/career\/making-a-difference","title":{"rendered":"Making a difference"},"content":{"rendered":"

As some of you know, I’ve been honored to be a part of this year’s Leadership Fort Collins<\/a> class.\u00a0 I’ve learned a whole bunch, and developed great friendships with people around the city.<\/p>\n

At the beginning of the year, they split us into small groups.\u00a0 Each group needs to pick its own project, and have that complete by May.\u00a0 There’s some really creative things going on!<\/p>\n

My team decided to do a fund-raiser for Homeless Gear<\/a>, a local charity which gives a hand up to those with a dire need.\u00a0 Fort Collins is an affluent community, in general, but there’s a shocking number of people who are living in their cars or shelters.<\/p>\n

Most of them are scrounging every night for a place to sleep.\u00a0 And in mid February, it’s cold.<\/p>\n

So our group is holding a fund- and donation-raising event<\/a> this Saturday.\u00a0 We’re at 9 locations around the city, with 20 volunteers so far.\u00a0 This may well turn out to be the largest event that Homeless Gear has ever had.<\/p>\n

I’m not mentioning this to raise funds or get kudos.\u00a0 Instead, I’d like you to think about how inspiring it is to make a difference to people in need.<\/p>\n

It doesn’t have to be a charity.\u00a0 I’ve had the opportunity to teach free classes (in schools, at work, or at church) and it’s much the same experience.<\/p>\n

I want to contribute to others, because I have such gratitude for what I’ve been given during my lifetime.\u00a0 And because I think that people are put here on earth to help each other through our difficult journeys.<\/p>\n

Here’s the interesting question:\u00a0 Should I feel guilty because I feel better about contributing?<\/p>\n

I think that the rush you get from helping out is actually a biological connection to why society works.\u00a0 Altruism does good for the recipient AND the giver.<\/p>\n

Just make sure you’re contributing for the right reasons.\u00a0 No manipulation, no expectation of a specific return.<\/p>\n

Giving is its own reward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As some of you know, I’ve been honored to be a part of this year’s Leadership Fort Collins class.\u00a0 I’ve learned a whole bunch, and developed great friendships with people […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,42],"tags":[49,15,64,39],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-carl","4":"has-more-link","5":"post-1524","7":"format-standard","8":"category-career","9":"category-newsletter","10":"post_tag-balance","11":"post_tag-career-coaching","12":"post_tag-giving","13":"post_tag-values"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1524"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1526,"href":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1524\/revisions\/1526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}