36 days to go...

Desire to give…

The last few days at work were hectic. Today an eminent laureate visited my office and gave a lecture. It was both busy and rewarding.

During introductions this morning, my boss remarked on my fundraising skills, saying “I don’t know how he does it.” This stuck in my mind, and I reflected on it tonight.

I would have appreciated it more if he had referred to other skills like having a solid grasp of my field, or at having introduced change and innovation, or simply to having achieved good accomplishments over the past years.

Anyway, I decided to take it as a complement, and to work out the answer to his unasked question. I think the successes I have had in fundraising in recent years were mainly caused by three reasons:

First, I am good at my job, so I can articulate what is important in my field.

Second, I have a passion for my work, so I am positive most of the time.

Third, I am persistent, so I hang in there and almost never give up.

And, while I generally keep a positive attitude, I have also learned never to be assured of success, so I adopt a beginner’s mind and reach out to the people I meet.

Finally, I believe that my positive results had something to do with a desire to give and share. I gave the other party something they needed or were happy to receive. I am not quite sure what it was. But I do know that when I had a positive and open attitude, good energy radiated out and made good connections happen.

I decided this evening that I should pay even more attention to “giving”, especially to the most difficult people in my life.

Photograph: We are the World, from Osho’s Zen Tarot.