"When you help one, you help thousands"-my mum
When I was a
child, I learnt things through my mother’s eyes. I gained wisdom &
insights from mum naturally and unconsciously.
Back in the
early 70's, my parents had a manufacturing business and mum &
Dad were always taking in lots of workers and giving them refuge and treating
them all as family members, giving them shelter, food, clothes, job and even
money to help their families too. Most of the young workers were from country
towns where there were no opportunities for them to get work.
We also had a
lot of elderly women come and visit us on a regular basis and we called them
aunty this and aunty that. At the time I was really inquisitive and wanted to
know what the relationship between us and those aunties were. It turned out
some were related to our family and most just lived in the same village where
our grandparents came from. They often came to see mum to get a job for their
children or grandchildren or money to support their families.
I vividly
remember this one particular old aunty who came to see mum quite regularly and
always bringing along things to sell. Those items you could actually buy from a
local supermarket such as pickles and sauces etc. But Mum always bought from
her and always gave her more money than what the items were worth.
As a child I
spent a lot of time with my mum and I did not understand why mum was doing
things the way she did.
One day I asked
her “Mum why are we always taking care of someone’s children and why are you
always giving more money than what it’s worth to old aunty and even she told
you that you were giving her too much.
Why Mum?
She looked at me
and gave me a smile and stroked my head and said my dear little one “When you
help one you help thousands”
I looked at mum
puzzled.
What do you mean
by that mum? I asked
Mum started to
explain the meaning to this quote.
My little one, just
remember that we are connected with everything around us. When you hurt things
or people around you, it harms you back. When you help others, you also help
yourself. When you help someone in need you are actually helping him and the people
that are connected to him like his family. By giving him a job you are giving
him a future and he can offer a brighter future for his family too.
Old aunty is a
single mother. Old uncle passed away and left her with 10 children. She is a
good mother who works very hard to raise her children. Her business is visiting
people's homes and selling food items. Buying things from her will provide food
on the table for her children and sending them to school so her children will
have a better future and old aunty can retire early and her children can look
after her.
My little one, every
act has consequences whether good or bad. This is the basic principle behind
the concept of karma.
So from this
learning, I apply this principle to our business and coaching to our clients.
Food for thought
for you to apply this to your business lifestyle:
- By helping others you also
help your business. A great example is when you are in a networking event
where you connect with other businesses and you form a relationship with
them and you get the opportunity to help them by referring their business.
In turn, they too refer business to you.
- Offer your expertise such as
teaching or running an art class, or a creative workshop where you are
sharing your skills and knowledge with others. It gives you creditably
where you can connect and inspire your audience and because you are
offering your expertise you are exposed to many people who resonate with
what you do and they will find you to buy your product or use your
service and they even tell others about you.
The key message
I learnt from this is when you open your hands to help others, make sure it's
your full intention and you do not expect anything back in return. You help
people because you want to! The act of helping people and expecting something
back in return will only disappoint you and make you feel resentful because you
are seeking a form of "What’s in it for me".
"Those who are
free of resentful thoughts surely find inner peace"-Buddha
If you are
openly helping and do not expect anything back, you will be surprised when you are
in need of help as there will be people who will openly help you back in
return.
This feeling is
the most grateful one... believe me I have experienced this many times and I am
very thankful & grateful for it.
I hope this tale
can inspire you to review the ways on how you think in life and in business.
Helping people to get where they want to be and to see them grow and succeed is
the most rewarding feeling you can experience
So when was the
last time you helped someone?
What was it? And
how did you feel?
Please share
your thoughts and leave your comments here or leave a comment on ArtSHINE Facebook page.
Tune in next
Friday for tale 2: "Your mind is powerful"
