Let’s Consume Less and Contribute More

“Only those who have learned the power of sincere and selfless contribution experience life's deepest joy: true fulfillment.”_Tony Robbins

In the nineteenth century, a poverty-stricken youth decided to join the workforce like many of his peers. He began with a meager pay of two cents an hour. 

However, he was a little different from most of his peers. He was different by the nature of his thoughts; the young lad had a strong desire, not just to earn a living but to help as many people as he could.

Though he started at lowest rung of the ladder—first as factory worker, then a bill logger, and a messenger boy—he nurtured the ambition of a hero; the outer condition of his life seemed like that of a slave, but inwardly, he cherished the aspirations of a king.

Evidently, the Scottish steel magnate, Andrew Carnegie, learned an important lesson early in his life: the secret to everlasting fulfillment is hidden in making generous contributions to the lives of others.

Carnegie wanted to be rich, not for mere vanity and extravagance but for the privilege to assist those less fortunate than him. As a result, he worked diligently to improve the lowly condition of his life, so that he could be in position to offer help to those in need.

And with God’s special grace, Andrew became one of the richest men on earth, earning hundreds of millions of dollars at the time, and in harmony with his lofty vision; he selflessly gave it all away. He realized his long cherished dream to leave an indelible mark in the strand of time. 

Carnegie is a classic proof of the fact that greatness is less about by what we can get, and more about the good we can contribute to the lives of others. It is through selfless service that all great personalities have carved their names in the plaque of history.

At this point, the purpose of this article should be clear. It is meant to stir us to think of the unique contributions we can make to the world in which we live. 

In the end, it is not what we generously offer that is lost; it will somehow come back to us in manifold. It is only what we selfishly devour that will eventually amount to nothing. 

Put another way: you will never be revered for what you gather, but you will be remembered for the good you scatter. In the words of an Indian non-violent activist, Mahatma Gandhi: “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

Give Some Good Away

“It is the height of selfishness to merely consume what others create and to retreat into a shell of limited goals and immediate pleasures.”_ Robert Greene

The meaning in our lives is proportionate to the degree of the contribution we can make in service to the Creator for the benefit of everything He has created.

So, let’s choose to consume less and produce more. Let’s choose to actively contribute to the world that surrounds us. And an American philanthropist, Milton Hershey aimed to encourage us in this direction when he wrote: “One is only happy in proportion as he makes others feel happy and only useful as he contributes his influences for the finer callings in life.”

Moreover, we don’t need to have hundreds of millions to thread the path of kindness. All we need is the heart of mercy. It is all we need to make the world a better place to live, and it is all we need to bring lasting meaning into our lives.

Now, if you forget everything in this article, I want you to remember this one question: “What small thing can I do to make a positive contribution toward my community today?”

Please ponder over that and take it to heart.

Finally, we don’t feel most alive when we saturate ourselves with everything we could receive from other people but we feel most alive when we saturate the world around us with the best of ourselves. 

We feel most alive when we embody the change that we wish to see in the world.