I love my morning commute. I drive down Washington Street very early, before the sun is up, and see the glittering lights of our beautiful downtown. After parking, I have a short walk through the downtown.
This time of year, the walk is especially enjoyable. There are fall leaves that litter the ground, a crispness in the air and I smell fall. It is on my morning walk, especially near the time of Thanksgiving, that an overwhelming sense of gratefulness comes over me. It is this time of year that I spend some extra time taking an assessment of life and the world.
I am grateful for my family. I am grateful for our town and its sense of community. I am grateful for my education and the opportunity to work. I am grateful for my church and the bond created through congregation. I believe much of what I have to be grateful for in life is thanks to a combination of both work, but also luck. Yes, luck.
I was lucky that my parents gave me a running start in life, held me accountable, taught me the importance of education, money management and embedded in me a no-nonsense, tough work ethic. I was lucky as a youth to never have to worry where my next meal would come from or if I would have acceptable clothes to go to school in (although I may have whined — and yet learned meaningful lessons — when my parents explained to me we would not be buying “designer” clothes that didn’t fit the budget!). This luck afforded me the opportunity to free my mind to focus on feeding myself academically and developing leadership skills.
But what if I had not been given this gift of a running start? What if many of the hours of my youth had been consumed with worry for survival, thus taking away from precious time to learn?
So, it is also in these moments, I think how grateful I am to the United Way that helps mobilize time and talent in a way that helps members of our community that need assistance and that may not have had running starts in life. I am so grateful that United Way is here to help knit together and balance community needs for many agencies such as Turning Point, CASA, Red Cross, Children Inc., FFY, Our Hospice of South Central Indiana, Sans Souci, Legal Aid and Just Friends, among many others, to enable our society to become stronger.
I also think, “What it is we get when we give?” I believe we get a sense of joy, connection and purpose when we help our fellow man. It is like a warm endorphin that gets released when you help someone and genuinely make a difference. There is a wide range of research, including John Hopkins and Berkley, that makes a connection between giving (time and treasure) and better health. Our blood pressure goes down, our stress decreases, and emotionally we feel better. All of this leads towards longevity. All of this leads to giving our lives meaning and a sense of purpose and a sense of connectedness in our world.
As we enter the holiday season, please consider what you can do to help. Do you have time? Consider helping at United Way, Sans Souci or Love Chapel, or one of the many organizations in town that could use your helping hands. If you call, any of these organizations will gladly welcome your support.
Do you have treasure? Please participate in — or even start — a local fundraiser for United Way or one of its many agencies, or just stop by and donate.
Know that you are needed. You are needed. Please participate. You will get back when you give. Please feel free to share, what it is that you get when you give?
Ginger Lirette of Columbus is a member of the United Way of Bartholomew County board of directors. She is an account director with Cummins Inc. and has lived in Columbus for the last 20 years. She is currently serving as a mentor for Columbus Robotics Team 4926. She will write about her United Way involvement on a quarterly basis. Please send any feedback to her question of the quarter to [email protected].
