What can I give?

You may know that I work for a charity in Calgary.  Every day, I get to see the difference that people make when they give of themselves - of their time, energy, money, ideas and of all that they are - to make our world a better place.  And I see the results - the supports that encourage kids to flourish, the opportunities that are provided in safer housing and the hope in the face of a teen who realizes that ending their life is not the only way.

That's why I was excited and inspired when I heard this story.

You may have heard of the giving pledge.  40 billionaires (yes, billionaires... take a minute to think about what that means) have pledged to give away at least half of their wealth during their lifetimes.

Of course,  Warren Buffett and Bill Gates personally called each of the contributors to ask for their gift.  That`s not exactly a call it would be easy to avoid, or a conversation easy to say "No" to!

Anyway, to the point... proportionally, half of my income is not nearly as much as half of a billionaires.  Giving away half of my income prior to my death would be exciting, empowering and hopefully make a huge difference to the issues I chose to support.

While the idea is exciting, it's not very practical for my life.

But, this giving pledge has inspired me to think about what, exactly, I can do.  I can give my time, energy, ideas and passion.  I can commit to, share about and generate donations and support for issues that I believe in and want to support.  Without giving half my wealth, I can still make financial investments in things I care about.

Stories of this giving pledge have inspired me to do more for issues, charities and people that I value and care about.

What about you?  What can you do?  Your contributions make a difference to the issues that are important to you - give something today!