Rethinking Success by J. Douglas Holladay

Author:J. Douglas Holladay [Holladay, J. Douglas]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: HarperOne
Published: 2020-04-27T16:00:00+00:00

Are You a Giver?

If you have ever been forgiven when you didn’t deserve it, you know how you can be overwhelmed by feelings of unworthiness. Yet once fully embraced, the experience generates a corresponding impulse to extend ourselves to others, even those as undeserving as we are. This new outlook can animate our actions and care for others. As givers, we can now see with eyes of compassion and concern.

When I think of givers in my life, Bob Brown is among those who stand tallest. Years ago, Bob put aside his own agenda to assist me in the difficult days of apartheid in South Africa. Bob grew up in the segregated South, stood with Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, and later served as special assistant to the president. In 1985, when I was appointed as Special Envoy to South Africa, Bob phoned me. Bob was chair of a railroad in North Carolina for which his great-grandfather had labored as a slave more than a hundred years earlier. Bob also had decades of business experience in Africa. He offered his assistance, believing he could do things through nongovernmental channels that might help advance our aims of fostering a peaceful postapartheid South Africa.

I accepted his generous offer, never imagining the central, yet unrecognized role Bob would play in moving South Africa to a one-person, one-vote democracy. Bob was one of the few people granted permission to visit Nelson Mandela on Robben Island. Over time, great trust developed between the two men. Eventually that circle of trust expanded to President Botha of South Africa. Bob was a translator. He interpreted Mandela’s thinking and intentions for President Botha and vice versa. What an important contribution at a vital moment in global events! Bob’s selfless work helped move South Africa toward a true democratic, inclusive society. For my part, I was the grateful recipient of his selfless service.

The ancient country of Ethiopia has been important to me ever since I first landed in Addis Ababa as a twenty-four-year-old. I have sent many young people to spend time with my dear friend Abraham Fiseha and become involved with his unique work with young street kids. These Westerners always return with an entirely changed outlook, reevaluating their own lives and purpose. They go initially to give something to those less fortunate, and then they discover that the more they give, the more they receive in return. Their own first world problems seem relatively unimportant when viewed through the lens of Ethiopia’s grinding poverty.

Our context can often shape how we see a problem. This is why travel is so important. When the context changes, what we understand to be a problem changes as well. Getting out of our small world to notice what others are facing is humbling and empowering.

When you give, do so from the heart. Don’t worry about the dimensions of the gift, large or small, or whether it is in money or service. Sometimes the tiniest gestures have the most impact. Throughout life, I’ve attempted to share with others what Ethiopia has given to me.

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