Image from Mr. Kris

Recently, my fellow 20sUP author Scott Randa introduced me to a new blog called “Year of Giving.”  In it, the author, known simply as “Reed,” is doing something that can teach us all a lesson in giving.

He recently lost his job, and unlike most people who, in similar situations, would try to tighten up all aspects of their financial lives, decided to give away money.  In fact, he’s giving away $10 a day to a new person and documenting his journey.  On his site, he talks about each of the different people that he has given money to, and in doing so, he demonstrates a quality about humans that most of us would do well to cultivate (myself included): altruism.

Though I’ve done a lot of volunteering and giving in the past, I’ve recently found myself thinking more and more about myself.  I’ve lost touch with my inner desire to help others, and you know what?  That’s scary.

One of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life was to spend a few years volunteering with the Youth Task Force – a youth community service organization that was part of the Washington, D.C. chapter of the American Red Cross.  When I was volunteering with that group, I not only helped others and made the lives of others more valuable, but I also experienced an immense amount of personal growth.

Volunteering has the strange effect of making you a better person.  It makes you more empathetic.  It makes you more generous.  It even makes you more street smart.  By giving your time and efforts to a “greater cause,” you tend to become someone that can relate to others more easily.

I can’t say what Reed’s true motives are in his “Year of Giving,” but I can guarantee that he will come into 2011 with a completely new outlook on life.  He’ll have met an incredible amount of new people from all walks of life, and he’ll have increased his knowledge of the world and of people.

It’s guys like this that you really have to admire, and want to get to know.  People like Reed – those that are always willing to try new things and expand their horizons – are the people that greatly enrich the lives of others.  I encourage everyone to try and be like Reed, in some way, shape, or form.  It will open your eyes.