With Purpose Success, part 80

An interesting thing about Hunter is that when he got jazzed about philanthropy it reignited sparks in other parts of his life too. He redoubled efforts in his profit-minded investment firm, seeing the profits he would be earning there as a means to further his philanthropic ventures. "What I'm doing now is a bigger buzz than any business deal," Hunter says. "When we help farmers in Rwanda get a better price for their coffee, it's their success-not ours. We are just a catalyst. But you can see the results. When a farmer one year can barely feed himself and the next year he can feed himself and his family and take care of his kids because of something you did-that's a hell of a thing." 

Yes it is-a better-than-business buzz that Sir Tom playfully but earnestly chides Warren Buffett for missing out on. Are you missing out too? "Listen," Hunter says, "I'm not someone who wants to preach to anybody else and say you should do what I do. I just feel a bit sorry for those who don't give something back because they're missing out on the best fun of their life." 

Giving Isn't a Chore 

Forget for a moment that Sir Tom is a billionaire. The epiphany he experienced was real, and you can experience it too. You don't need boatloads of dollars. You just need time, desire, and compassion, and you may never have those things in greater abundance than you do right now. Perhaps your kids have moved out, or soon will. You are staring down the road at your empty-nest years, relieved of many family responsibilities. Retirement- or partial retirement-might beckon you. You are no doubt eager to explore the vast leisure opportunities before you. But you have the time and personal abilities to devote to a higher purpose too, and however you choose to give back you can be sure that in one way or another you'll get as much as you give. 

Don't undervalue the skills and connections that have come to you through your life experiences. Not everybody knows how to weld a pipe, run a procurement division, write a press release, raise money, give an injection, pilot a plane, interpret law, teach a class, organize a brainstorming meeting or fix a computer. Someone out there can benefit from what you know, and it can be a blast passing it on. Your personal skills and assets can help you launch out in new and exciting directions. Now is the time to step up and rethink how you want your life to function, and how you might fit service to others into it. You can choose how and when. You may choose to become a vacateer, mixing fun and adventure with personal fulfillment. Why not skip Club Med this year and sign up the whole family for a virtuous vacation with Habitat for Humanity? It's tough to connect with your kids these days, and you may just find that this kind of time is the most rewarding experience of your life. 

Giving isn't like a spoonful of castor oil, that notoriously ghastly cure- all that was so hard to swallow that TV's Little Rascals-Spanky, Buckwheat, 

Darla, Froggy, and the gang-were always comically scheming to avoid their dose. The horrible taste certainly loaned credibility to castor oil's perceived medicinal value. Anything that bad must be good for you, right? Well, too many people view giving the same way: the right thing to do, but painful. It doesn't have to be that way.