Ideally, I would find financial success as a result of serving others. To give an example that I hope to follow, people have written tremendously helpful books which have sold in large numbers, thus combining both goals. Uncle Tom’s Cabin comes to mind in this connection, and so does Codependent No More, by Melody Beattie. Each of these books in its own way has helped many people to achieve a new understanding of life, and many others have contributed similarly. Books and other relevant creative works give to others by helping to understand their lives and their surroundings, and by giving people the means to change their lives in any number of ways.

 

A recent, relevant example of life-changing works is the entire For Dummies series of books and their competitors. These books, presented on an amazing range of subject matter, give ordinary people access to life activities, software and hobbies outside the range of their backgrounds or educational attainments. Thus, my bookshelf includes Bicycling for Dummies and Ubuntu Linux for Dummies. I note here that the title refers to feeling like a dummy in a new field of endeavor, not used as an insult to the reader but as an invitation to learn.

 

Of course, the relationship between “financial success” and “giving back to others” depends largely on one’s definition of each term. Financial success in terms of providing for one’s own food, shelter and related items, as well as covering such things as student loan payments and retirement funding, is within reach of most college graduates and ought not to be neglected. The lack of food, adequate shelter, and the means to get and perform a decent job can impair a person’s entire life. I would like to achieve enough financial success to be able to go a bit beyond that and travel to a variety of places. Travel in the past has proven broadening to my outlook. I believe that makes me a better person.

 

Nothing is inherently wrong with making money. I will mention here a widely-used Bible quote that “the love of money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10).” I note that not for religious reasons but to point out that in good grammar the subject here is not the money but the love of it. That is, in this case, the desire for money to the exclusion of other important values. This verse does not discredit money in its own right.

 

But I cannot envision myself seeking money and material rewards much beyond comfort, safety and travel. My willingness to work more hours or accomplish more difficult feats beyond the ordinary cannot depend on financial rewards. One reason for this is that I have spent time with my elders often since childhood. I see no correlation between extraordinary money and happiness.  In fact, the wealthiest person that I have ever known personally is still searching for purpose in his life, and he is over seventy years old. It seems to me that financial rewards are self-limiting.

 

Most of the people I know who seem happy to me devote time to helping others, either professionally or in their “outside” lives. One excellent example of this is a man I know who achieved certification as an auto mechanic after he retired from another job. He repairs cars for his family and others, which gives him something to do and gives his family and friends transportation. He seems to me to be one of the happier people I know. Of course, he has enough retirement money coming in to support himself and his wife in the blue-collar style to which he is accustomed and to add in hobbies such as camping and the occasional professional sporting event, but he could not be called wealthy except in spirit.

 

I also know people who make a living by helping others. While their jobs carry the usual frustrations involved in work, and sometimes a few more, they seem to achieve serenity more easily than those whose work lives focus on commissions or promotions. I suspect that this derives from the certainty that they serve useful functions on the planet. The people I know in these situations are teachers or tutors, social workers or some variety of advocates for causes. They have chosen to employ their educations in the help of others, and I know none who regret putting their effort into those causes.

 

 I have, however, spoken to people who left the “helping fields” because of the nature of the employment. The issues centered not upon the helping itself but upon a variety of things about the field that made it more difficult to actually help people. I have taken a lesson from them. Actually “giving back” can be more difficult than it sounds, so a student seeking to give back to others as his or her primary motivation in choosing a field should choose carefully.

 

I am older than most of my fellow students. I found it essential to study the question of financial success versus the chance to give to others when I considered returning to school. For me, the appropriate balance is to achieve financial security, preferably by doing work that benefits others, and then consider other priorities.

 

 I am glad that this essay contest encourages others to consider this important issue.