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Give and Forgive
One of the concepts drawn from my childhood as a refugee and terms my parents taught me is to Give and Forgive.
You give to your community and your people, and you forgive. That is, you don’t expect to be noticed, you don’t expect anything in return, and you don’t expect it to cause a buzz.
Many leaders we’ve talked to have been doing this since COVID started — whether they jumped on the wagon of delivering food to the needy, offering pro-bono services or products, or standing and speaking out for those whose voices are not heard.
Leaders and entrepreneurs seem to understand the concept of give and forgive. I was lucky to learn it in childhood, growing up as a refugee. The terminology my parents used was very simple:
Give as if you’re giving water to the ocean.
That embodied several ideas:
First, the impact of the water you add to the ocean, although it may seem like a lot at the time, is not much compared to the vastness of the ocean. So be humble about your giving, and to whom you give it.
Second, know that while that portion given to the ocean is tiny compared to the ocean as a whole, it is appreciated and is where it belongs.
Being humble, creative, and having no right to brag about it are key concepts I learned as a child. It’s…
