Day 10 - A Character Defined

As I’ve got older my character has defined. My memory is definitely not what it used to be – and before the peanut gallery starts to chirp, it hasn’t gone completely, it’s just sometimes a little hazy around the less important stuff - , my newly renewed driving licence notes that I now need to wear glasses whilst driving, I’m often speechless and amazed when presented with evidence of the march of technology and I get irritated quickly. With stupid people and especially with greedy people. So what is my definition of greed? People who make a show of highlighting their giving attributes, but whose primary motivation is taking. People who give to take.

As life has gone on, my character has defined. I look back now and realize that before the knocks – and there has been a few – I would have been classified, by my own definition, as greedy. It is said that there is a plan for each of us and I guess my eyes began to open to the power of giving, in the autumn of last year.

Wanting my son to play soccer – he was then 5 – I enrolled him into what was then Twini FC. As the season unfolded I was constantly and pleasantly amazed by the people in the club. Their absolute giving to the coaching and the organizing of this club was impressive to watch. And unlike anything, experienced through my eyes anyway, in Toti before, there was no politics, there was a common goal, there was passion for the right reasons. No one, it seemed, wanted to be bigger than the club, there appeared to be no hidden agenda and most importantly there appeared to be no ego’s or self riotousness involved.

In the spring of that same year, my daughter joined nippers for the fist time and again, I was astounded by the giving of the coaches and the organizers. These people give up their time and their energy to teach others. There appears to be no profit motive in either organization. The people aren’t paid for their time. OK, there has to be an argument that perhaps if the clubs did have a bit of a profit motive there would be more resource to put into the club. Perhaps the nippers could have been more organized but so what, just like at soccer, there were no ego’s, no hidden agendas. It will improve and I can see the progress in my children.

I don’t know if anyone from either of these two clubs will ever read this piece, if they do, they will know who they are and please know that I salute you.

My point to this whole piece. I have found myself questioning how I can give back to others. I get it that people are at different stages in their life and some people will forever chase riches. Some people will whine about anything, some people have been there and done it, and some people only do it for their personal exposure and ultimately their personal enrichment. How can I balance my life in the community in which I live? I have no desire for politics other than to vote, I have my own, very personal, view on religion, I have no desire to confront egotistical “look at me while I try and save the world from their mistakes” idiots. If I lived in the Karoo I would probably want to be involved in the fight against the oil companies desire to fuck up this pristine environment – all thirty thousand square kilometers of it! I’m not a tree hugger but I’m against the concreting of every available inch of land by property developers and – this is the biggest change in me – I’ve realized that money and things aren’t everything (and the cynics out there will probably think that this is because I no longer have either).

Today is a bit random. And I’m not suggesting you should think like I do. Just know that there are stacks of people out there who are really giving. The trick is to identify those who are giving to take. And you’ll know lots of them.

Until tomorrow. God speed…..