It’s almost Thanksgiving. It’s going to be Christmas next month. In this season, I encourage you to think like Robin Hood.
Often in the Money blog we think about how to make our finances better. You may look to this blog for ideas about how you can reduce your debt or avoid getting one. You may look to this blog for tips on the day to day trials and streamlining of your money management. You probably do not look to this blog to hear about fairy tale characters from England.
Robin Hood took from the rich and gave to the poor. And I have to tell you, that’s what you are: you are rich. You may not feel rich. In fact, you may not feel like you have much at all. But if you have health, you’re rich. If you have the ability to create wealth, you’re rich. If you have a home, and children, and a job? Well, you’re beyond rich.
We all have something that we can share with others. I’m not asking you to divide the world into rich and poor. I’m asking you to think for a while about all of the resources that you have to share.
We have money now, and so we will share it. This year, I will commit to sponsoring a child with Type 1 diabetes who would die without the insulin that I give that child. I have Type 1 diabetes, and I live in a country where I am able to live a long life, much longer than the two or three years that child would suffer through. I’ve already lived for 5 years with this disease: I am lucky. Some of you may have other passions, like supporting a child’s education or supporting a child born with HIV.
This year, as in past years, I will choose carefully between giving time and giving money. I will choose to give time over money when my time can make a huge difference. I will continue to volunteer for organizations that focus on helping people grow their own food, because gardening and food are two things that are dear to my heart. I will help network these organizations and help find grants to sustain them. This is more important than giving my money. Maybe your interests lie in helping a friend or giving to a local family. Perhaps you bake cookies for someone at Christmas time. That is rich too.
This year, I will also look at my resources to see what I can share. You can be a big giver without giving money at all. I have points from different rewards programs, and that seems like a rather mundane and middle-class thing to have. At Christmas, I translate these points into gift cards and donate them to local families in need. It costs me nothing.
How are you rich? What will you give?