In my opinion, our primary goal when working for someone is to be compensated with money. At our job we spend 8+ hours per day working to make money for the company and are compensated for our time with – money. If someone takes the time to knit a blanket and sell it on online they are compensated with – money. When someone sells their old car to someone who needs one they are compensated with – money. For the most part, in our everyday lives we strive exchange work and goods for – money.
I think there are times in life that exchanging money is not the solution as there is more to learn or experience than money can buy. Now being a father, I have realized there are TONS of things I can buy for my daughter that may give her joy. We probably buy her too many toys frankly, but she enjoys playing with them. We also buy LOTS of clothes for her so she is comfortable in what she wears. Do you think she notices that her clothes fit well? I’d say no, she doesn’t notice whether or not her pants are tight or her onesie is loose. She doesn’t notice at all. Do we (my wife and I) put in the effort to buy her clothes so she is happy? Yes! She gives us nothing in return other than being cute (which is worth it). Buying her clothes doesn’t help us at all, it actually hurts our finances. So why put out money when it doesn’t benefit us directly?
There are many times in life when we have to take a hit financially to possibly learn more or have new experiences. We certainly didn’t have our daughter because she would make us money – so far she has been a money pit. We have gained knowledge and life experiences with our daughter, while also being able to build our own family. Our goal as parents is to provide a better life for our children than ourselves and in order for that to be possible we must make sacrifices. Two of the biggest sacrifices are associated with TIME and FINANCES.
Giving a Helping Hand
Looking beyond our ourselves, there are also times when we can help others at our expense to benefit them. There are people who don’t have the ability, can’t afford or don’t have time to get the help they need. As an example – if someone has grandparents that have a hard time getting around, they may need some help changing lightbulbs, taking out the trash or cooking food. Can we look at what we may do to help and expect to be paid? I don’t think we should. I think we should look at how we are helping them and how much it impacts their life and bite the bullet. With our help we can improve the lives of others while making sacrifices to make it possible.
There will be sacrifices of time and possibly money in the situation stated. To help them out I bring over food for them for dinner. I could swing by the store and purchase a few lightbulbs so they don’t have to go out and get them. It’s only a few dollars, but means more to them than I probably think. A change in mindset on taking out the trash could also be in order – I am keeping them from falling down which could be dangerous for them. A little sacrifice of time and finances goes a lot further for others than it may for myself.
A Future Investment
I have found that when helping others (that are family and friends) there’s usually a future return on my efforts. As an example, I used to do lawn work for a family friend and one day he asked if I could build some things for him. He has a bad back and has a hard time bending over to pet and groom his dogs. He did pay me for the work, but I built him a specific style of picnic table so he could continue to spend time with his pets. I didn’t care how much he paid me for the work – I was happy to do it for him and his wife.
For the same family I built two swings for him to put around his fire pit. Did I expect him to tell me that I can come over and use them anytime? No, but by investing my time into building them and him being grateful for my efforts I now have permission to use them whenever I want. I did not go into the build requesting that if I build them then I must get full access, that would be crazy. Sometimes the people being helped are grateful enough to surpass the agreement (in this case money) and give us something we couldn’t buy.
Not that we should enter into an agreement hoping for something like this, but sometimes we are gifted in return. I gained knowledge about building swings by having this opportunity and am more familiar with the process if I build more in the future.
The Profitable Assistance
As another example, let’s imagine that a man is building a deck at his house. Is the man physically capable of completing the work? Yes. Is the man financially capable of completing the work? Yes. So why help? It seems that he can do it by himself without issue.
I think there’s another aspect of helping people that may not make sense at first so let me explain. I would call it profitable assistance. This would be helping someone by sacrificing time or money while knowing there will be a return that is NOT monetary when the work is complete. I think that this is more common within a family and much less common with strangers. The man is building a deck and a person could help by:
- Paying for materials
- Building the deck framing
- Digging holes
- Laying the deck board surface
- Staining the deck
Helping with any of the tasks makes the work easier and faster. Some possible returns on the helpers efforts would be:
- Sitting on the deck
- Coming over for cookouts on the deck
So, if the person wants to use the deck (which they know they will be able to) why wouldn’t they want to help? If someone doesn’t want to help (and give their time or money) is it fair to pay an entry fee? There’s a reason why I said it’s more common with family than with strangers. For working on the deck, the payment is being able to enjoy it and spend time using it. We sacrifice time up front for the work – to have a return of time in the future.
Helping in this situation makes it easier and faster. As they saying goes, “many hands make light work.” Taking a larger project and dividing it amongst a group will make it much easier for each person and faster. It will lessen the load for everybody (especially the man who wants/needs the deck).
Profiting From Lessons
When helping others giving our time or money we profit no matter the outcome. Maybe we help on the deck giving only our time and now we have time given back to us to use the deck how we please. During the process we could be learning how to build a deck for FREE instead of going to a class or school to learn. We might even build our relationship more so when we want to build our own deck they will come help us.
Maybe I make a quick run to the store and buy some lightbulbs to help my grandparents in their home. I could learn something about them I didn’t know prior to having a conversation. It’s hard to tell exactly what I will learn, but I will learn something during the process whether I want to or not.
A Final Thought
Helping others is sacrifice. Sacrifice has a price – time and money are the most common in my opinion. We have a great opportunity to give up some of our time or money to give others something much greater. It’s really an OUT>IN type of situation.
6The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:6-8 ESV
I have found in my life, helping my family and friends reach their goals is huge. I don’t know what I will be doing a few years from now, but I know I want them helping me reach my goals. Being paid for helping is only temporary as the money will eventually disappear, but what we build and learn together will last our lifetimes.