Friday 18 April 2014

What have you done to change the world recently...?

If you are a reader of this blog the chances are that wealth creation, finance, investment banking, real estate or something else to do with money is what you are interested in.  I am completely in that camp as well and working in finance and writing about finance all day long often has me wrapped up in a bubble that I rarely step outside of.

Occasionally I decide to stick my head outside this bubble...

I stop thinking about capital generation, wealth preservation and the enjoyment of life that comes from that (i.e. holidays, a nice apartment, dinners etc) and start thinking about other things in the world around me.  Invariably this takes me down two paths: I either think about politics or I think about charity.

When I think about politics I almost always end up depressed and disenchanted.  The people with the most ability to affect change in our world seem focused on their own goals and interests and caught up in their own 'bubble'.  This is not always true and occasionally you'll see something really great come out of politicians.  But for the most part we seem to be disappointed with the lack of progress that we desire.

The other path I take thinks about the difference that each and every one of us can
make in our own small way and contrary to thinking about politics this invariably fills me with a great deal of hope.  Although we can't do a great deal alone, if we are happy to be a small part of a large wheel that supports those less fortunate we can make a large difference.

Holidays are a great time to think about giving...

I think holidays are the best time of the year to think about giving and charity.  We are often relieved of our own worries and stressed and let's be honest we all tend to spend a little bit more when we are getting some time off and letting our hair down.  I think this is a great time to pick a cause that you feel strongly about and make a donation to them.  It doesn't matter what it is - as long as you feel it will make some small change in the world.

I was originally in two minds whether to put up this post.  I try not to use this blog as a soap box but I hope that people will take this a little less like preaching and a little bit more like a friendly nudge in the right direction.  A friend recently posted on my Facebook wall "what have you done to change the world recently?"...and I realised it wasn't a lot...so I'm passing on that same challenging question to my readers.

You May Also Be Interested In
Politics: All posts
Weekend warrior: All posts
Christmas giving: A little microfinance can go a long way
Donating to charities: save tax and benefit society at the same time

No comments:

Post a Comment