Paying it Back....or forward......

    Another cool short post from Seth Godin:

Do you deserve it?

Do you deserve the luck you've been handed? The place you were born, the education you were given, the job you've got? Do you deserve your tribe, your customer base, your brand?
Not at all. “Deserve” is such a loaded word. Most of us don’t deserve the great opportunities we have, or the lucky breaks that got us here.
The question shouldn’t be, “do you deserve it.” I think it should be, “what are you going to do with it now that you've got it?"




       The problem with this post is he didn't go far enough. I remember reading some quotes from NFL running back Warrick Dunn who is a noted philanthropist.  He said he was using the opportunities given him to help others. Godin talks about us needing to make the most of the opportunities we've been given but he doesn't go far enough into the fact that as Bill Clinton once said: "It's everyone's responsibility to level the playing field". There is no doubt the playing field isn't level. For most of us a lot of the reasons, skills, looks etc. that helped us reach the level of success we have reached really aren't things that we had control over. Now wouldn't it be only fair to help someone who had a little less to start with by giving them a hands up however we can? Just a few minutes.....or a few dollars.