In a community you need the private, public, and nonprofits working together. Working to get all three sectors to do this inspires me, and I believe those of us who have the skills need to jump in and work together.
I like meeting new people and learning from them. And I enjoy engaging them in something productive. I also have a strong desire to help others and get things accomplished in our community. When I retired young at 55, my goal was to provide time, talent, and treasure for our community.
Giving Back and Helping Others
This dimension of altruism plays out in a variety of ways for senior sage leaders:
Shortly after we returned to Grass Valley we were at a dinner party and an old friend said, “Well, now it’s time for you to give back to the community.” I thought about this because I had not been back here very long, but he was absolutely right. This was a wonderful place to come of age, and I valued this so many times—whether it was my teachers, the people I worked for, or others who gave me a boost. These experiences really shaped me.
My husband and I agreed it was time for us to give back because we have been very fortunate. We have enough to live on and have traveled many places around the globe. We started doing things like working on Habitat for Humanity sites and finding organizations that we believe in. I want to give back to children who are in pain in their childhood the way I was. Maybe that’s why I am into helping to develop people, so they can become fulfilled and feel joy.
I usually see a need that’s not being filled, and it often has to do with people and especially children. Then I dream about it. It’s like Kennedy’s thing, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” So it has been natural for me to ask why there wasn’t a homeless shelter here and how one could come into being.
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