Generosity

When the economy tanked a few years ago, my life became more difficult than I ever could have imagined.

My income dropped substantially. Each alimony payment seemed to weigh heavier than the last. And for the first time in my life, I wondered if I’d be able to stay on my own two feet.

After getting past the worst of it, I realized that I had just experienced my generational “somatic marker” – the cognitive shortcut that forges a powerful association in the brain. It’s a bookmark to a period in life I’ll never forget, and it’s changed me for the better.

When I was younger, I focused a lot on what I could achieve. But I was more concerned with the financial rewards of achievement, not the actual accomplishments.

My father used to tell me and my brothers that it didn’t matter what you get in life – what matters is what you give. Which clearly means that until recently, my way of thinking was backwards.

What matters now is being generous. Not just with money, but with time and skill as well. Which is why I’m initiating charity efforts with a new site, babygorillas.org. I’ve owned this domain name for years, yet did nothing but redirect it to the .com address. But now that babygorillas.com has started to gain real momentum, I wanted to do something special – to take that interaction and make change in the world that was meaningful. To focus on giving, not getting. And a great way to do that is with a .org site.

The first .org project goes live in May. It’s a small beginning, but over time I know that these efforts will touch many people – and change them for the better.

If you’d like to follow our progress, you can sign-up for the launch announcement here.  I hope that you’ll consider staying with me on this journey.