Never Worry about the numbers

Never Worry about the numbers

November 22 2012

By: Gina Yoryet Roman

M. G. M. told me the other day that she doesn't want to take advantage of my generosity when we had lunch today.

"I have received more from you in the last two months since I've been in Mexico than I have in the last twenty years. I had never felt so welcome and relaxed as I do here with you and your mother, you are very giving."

"Ha, ha! Come on, it is not all that." I responded. 

Giving, sharing and helping has always been in my nature because I was taught that by my mother and older siblings. As generous as she thinks I am, my selfish gene comes forth and I tend to only focus on my needs; even when I pray "I" is the protagonist of my petitions more frequently as I get older. Sometimes I try to fight it (at no avail) and look at others' needs and it works momentarily.

In reality I am not as giving as she said I am. The other Romans are TRUE givers, they not only give their unconditional love and support but they give everything they possess without a limit or questioning. 

There's a vivid memory of a particular time long ago when my second oldest brother had just bought a brand new leather jacket he fell for as winter approached. A few days later, while roaming the streets of San Francisco, he bumped into a homeless man who was shivering about to turn into a popsicle in that freezing winter in January. He went past the man, about to vanish in the crowd when suddenly he turned around and walked towards the man. Without hesitating he took his jacket off and covered the man with it. That stranger must've thought my brother was an angel sent. 

On the verge of tears he gazed at my brother and thanked him endlessly. 

That story is engraved in my soul and when I tend to get a little egocentric, I reflect on that moment and try not to get attached to the materialistic and vain aspects in my surroundings. 

Sharing and helping others is very self-fulfilling and I do a lot of self-talk. I tell myself to not fret on giving despite not having a hefty bank account nor possessing a whole lot because first and foremost) GOD ALWAYS PROVIDES. And number 2) I trust my abilities and knowledge that I am certain that I will never lack the bare necessities. 

And I as well have witnessed that what comes around, goes around. There are many kind souls from all levels of society who give lovingly and willingly. 

For example, Chuck Feeney, an Irish-American businessman and philanthropist and the founder of The Atlantic Philanthropies, one of the largest private foundations in the world, handed out a $350 million donation for a massive project to build a new house of graduate learning on New York's Roosevelt Island. The new high-tech science learning center will be part of Cornell University. 

The Forbes Charity Foundation started by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett donates billions of dollars to different causes and their wealth keeps getting multiplied.

Then the town of Rushville Illinois is very blessed with the '$5 doctor' who practices medicine. Doctor Russell Dohner who's worked there since 1955, back then only charging $2 unlike his $5 current fee, is not about to go anywhere because he truly loves his job. 

He was quoted in yahoo news, "I always just wanted to be a doctor to help people with their medical problems and that's all it's for .," the 87-year-old family physician says. "It was never intended to make a lot of money."

This tenderhearted doctor even sacrificed his one and only marriage after refusing to leave the miniature town of 4,300 inhabitants. 

Yahoo news.

"It was a sacrifice, yes. His young wife didn't want to stay in such a small town, he says, and so their marriage ended. He never remarried and instead dedicated his life to his work, only leaving this small central Illinois town for medical conferences over the years, never taking a true vacation."

There are many other philanthropists who don't hesitate to share their wealth with those in real need and make a positive change in our society. One of my dreams is to some day open my own charity foundation and take in orphans, single mothers  and elderly people, and help them have more and better opportunities. I want to show them that 'otro mundo si es possible.'

So why distress about the number in my pockets or the number of people I can help?

"Never Worry about the numbers.

Help one person at a time, and

always start with the person 

nearest you."

Mother Teresa