I think most life lessons we learn come with some kind of a price tag, be that literal or figurative. Of course, the things that require something of us are generally more valuable because we are invested in them.
Last Tuesday I had the chance to go to a charity event called "One Day Without Shoes." It was hosted at the Riverwoods, along with another charity for children in Africa. Typical to my nature, I went along with Ananda to hear the free music concert and go to the dance party. I meant to get some money out of my purse to donate, but of course I managed to forget to grab it out before I locked my purse in my trunk. I didn't really feel too bad about that. Ananda donated some money. Part of the incentive for some to donate was that you could enter raffles for free stuff. Since she had donated, I entered my name and hers for a raffle of $200 cash. We had to guess how many golf tees were in the jar. After some mathematical collaboration, we chose 262 for my bid. I wanted Ananda to have her own bid, so I put her down for 273. Then we went over to enjoy the amazing group on stage, not really thinking about the raffle after that.
After hanging around the fire pits (since it was exceptionally cool and drizzly that night), we headed back closer to the main stage to hear from the charity coordinators and get the dance party started. They raffled off some handmade longboards, then brought out the cash prize. "How many golf tees do you think are in this jar? Some girl won... the total number golf tees is 271." At this point I started cheering, because I was 99% certain that Ananda had won. Sure enough! The announcer butchered her name and she went up to claim the $200. The announcer put the money in her hand, and 2 seconds later she put it into the hands of the charity coordinator.
I was super impressed. We had talked around the fire about the raffle and what if one of us won it. She had mentioned before that since we didn't come with it, we might as well donate it back and leave it there... that it wasn't really ours. How true that is! Of course, if I had won I probably still would have kept a $20 and given away the rest of it. Suffice it to say, I was really glad that Ananda won. Her simple action will help 6 or 7 young children in Africa for a month: food, school, clothing, safety, etc. I would have most likely done something quite frivolous, enjoying the "free" money and being relatively selfish.
So thanks, Ananda, for your wonderful example of love and selflessness. I learned a valuable lesson and hope that I can be a better person because of that.
Last Tuesday I had the chance to go to a charity event called "One Day Without Shoes." It was hosted at the Riverwoods, along with another charity for children in Africa. Typical to my nature, I went along with Ananda to hear the free music concert and go to the dance party. I meant to get some money out of my purse to donate, but of course I managed to forget to grab it out before I locked my purse in my trunk. I didn't really feel too bad about that. Ananda donated some money. Part of the incentive for some to donate was that you could enter raffles for free stuff. Since she had donated, I entered my name and hers for a raffle of $200 cash. We had to guess how many golf tees were in the jar. After some mathematical collaboration, we chose 262 for my bid. I wanted Ananda to have her own bid, so I put her down for 273. Then we went over to enjoy the amazing group on stage, not really thinking about the raffle after that.
After hanging around the fire pits (since it was exceptionally cool and drizzly that night), we headed back closer to the main stage to hear from the charity coordinators and get the dance party started. They raffled off some handmade longboards, then brought out the cash prize. "How many golf tees do you think are in this jar? Some girl won... the total number golf tees is 271." At this point I started cheering, because I was 99% certain that Ananda had won. Sure enough! The announcer butchered her name and she went up to claim the $200. The announcer put the money in her hand, and 2 seconds later she put it into the hands of the charity coordinator.
I was super impressed. We had talked around the fire about the raffle and what if one of us won it. She had mentioned before that since we didn't come with it, we might as well donate it back and leave it there... that it wasn't really ours. How true that is! Of course, if I had won I probably still would have kept a $20 and given away the rest of it. Suffice it to say, I was really glad that Ananda won. Her simple action will help 6 or 7 young children in Africa for a month: food, school, clothing, safety, etc. I would have most likely done something quite frivolous, enjoying the "free" money and being relatively selfish.
So thanks, Ananda, for your wonderful example of love and selflessness. I learned a valuable lesson and hope that I can be a better person because of that.
3 comments:
my brother in law sang at the charity
Wow, I was expecting your post to be something like you lost a ticket and someone else found it or something. :)
That was truly a great lesson. I'm glad there are people like Ananda to
... and i have another thought. :)
I wanted to say that this brought to mind how in the scriptures it teaches that the Lord will give more to those he knows will serve more or something to that effect. The Lord knew Ananda's heart and so he blessed her to win because she would do the most good with it. If we only we could all be less selfish our country would probably be in a completely different situation. Thanks Ananda!
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