How far would you go to help someone?
I am not talking about family or your close knit group of friends. For the most part, you will help them one way or the other, even if you feel obligated, burdened with guilt or have been bribed with alcoholic treats.
No, I am talking about strangers. Those people that you seemingly think you have no connection with.
It’s easy to help our inner circle of family and friends, but our true impact on the world, whether it be on our children, our students or anyone else who may be observing, is what we do to help those we have zero connection with.
Hypothetical vs Reality…
It’s an interesting question because there is the hypothetical response and an actual experience that one could share.
Personally, I’m no longer interested in hypothetical situations, because they don’t accurately reflect what we may or may not do once we are placed in that actual moment we are discussing.
I equate hypotheticals to the interview process, which I still contend is the most ridiculous method ever of hiring someone for a job. I’m great in interviews because I know exactly what people want to hear. But just because I can say it doesn’t me I can or even plan on ever doing it.
It’s easy to theorize. It’s safe and quite frankly we can come off sounding like the best human being ever with our answers. But for those who can speak from experience, well that is where meaningful impact on the lives of others occurs.
The best example I ever heard…
Years ago, I was driving back to Toronto with a cousin of mine. Cousins are a funny thing because we have an instant bond with them even though we don’t necessarily know much about their inner workings. As they say, blood is thicker than water, which means it also weighs more as well. (The last part of that comment has absolutely nothing to do with this piece other than to show you I am very “highly” educated.)
I happened to mention a book I was reading at the time called “You will be Satisfied.“ Now that I write that title down I realize it sounds like the subtitle should read, “Confessions of a Hollywood Hooker.” The book was in fact written by a guy who owned the most successful Ford dealership in the world at the time I was reading it (mid ’90’s).
The premise of the book was about how far this dude would go to satisfy his customers; even those who weren’t his customers.
This led to my cousin and I sharing stories of things we had done to help others. I had little to add. I had found and returned a few wallets in my day, held a few doors open, and given up my seat on the bus to the elderly on occasion, but only after reviewing their ID to verify they did in fact qualify for the seat. There is nothing worse than those little ole’ ladies who are a few months shy of senior citizenship trying to take all the good seats. I don’t think so grandma!
His story however, blew me away.
I can’t recall where he was living at the time, but he happened to come across a family whose car had broken down. He went over and struck up a conversation with the driver and discovered that he, his wife and the little gaffers in the backseat were going on vacation. Again I can’t recall where they were going but it was somewhere fun and far. (I would make a horrible witness wouldn’t I?)
Sadly, there vacation had ended before they had even got out of their own city.
So what did my cousin do? He told the guy to take his car and go on his vacation. My cousin would then arrange to get the car (the broken down one) into a mechanic and have it repaired, and when the guy returned from his trip he could simply return the car (my cousin’s) and settle up any bill outstanding.
And that is exactly what happened. This complete stranger and his family went on their vacation (I think it was a week…I should have went under hypnosis to better recall the details of what now appears to be a very vague story) and then returned to pick up and pay for his car that was now fixed and ready to go.
I was utterly amazed at how magnanimous a deed he had just shared.
Of course I had a bunch of “What if’s” running through my head…
- What if they just never came back?
- What if they had an accident and wrecked the car?
- What about the extra miles put on the car? (hey that’s not a what if)
- What if those little stinkers in the back threw up everywhere?
When I look back now, I realize that we (me) stop ourselves from doing so many great things in life because we “What if” ourselves out of them, worrying about all that could go wrong.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying we should not weigh the pros and the cons of any situation. There is value in that.
And sure from time to time, things may not turn out exactly as planned, but the reality is our worse case scenarios hardly ever happen.
But what if we started living a life where we just turned that little recording in our head off; the one that keeps coming up with that endless list of reasons we can’t or shouldn’t do something.
Imagine what kind of impact we could make in the lives of others if we were willing to suspend our “what if”.
To ideas worth quitting,
Be part of the conversation! I would love to hear your story or that of someone you could speak for. Click on the comments button below to share .
