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Giving Back
I’ve heard this phrase so many times recently, and I have a friend who
uses it quite a bit. Celebrities often say it during their
interviews on late-night talk shows. “I’m giving back to the
community,” they say. But every time I hear it, I can’t help but
wonder if it’s a valid statement. And if so, is it one that
actually matches my values?
“Giving back to the community” implies that the community has given to
you and you are ready to repay it. Has the community given to
you? Have they been the source of your success? Did they
provide you with your education, your job, your home, your
family? If your answer to any of these is “yes,” then by all
means, give back. That’s an admirable thing to do.
But if your successes came from your own hard work, your faith, the
support of your family and friends, then why do you have to repay the
community? I would say instead, “I will give to the community --
I will give of my resources, my knowledge, my abilities, my time, to
help someone else in this place where I live, with no expectation of
ever being repaid. I will do it because it is the right thing to
do. It is right to help another human being when I have the
ability to do so.” That’s better than “giving back,” I’d say.
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