Time Management for Home Business: What Do You Have To Give?
Six years ago today, I gave birth to a baby boy for a couple who weren’t able to have kids of their own. The parents and I did had a baby-share arrangement for the first five months of his life so that Colin would have a chance to still be breastfed. At the time, I had no money. I mean really, no money. There really wasn’t a whole lot I felt I had to give, but I did have time on my hands and a womb that seemed to be constantly finding itself an occupant. Being a surrogate mother seemed like a good idea.
Now, I have money but no time. I am starting a really exciting new project, as if this website wasn’t exciting enough, and I have a one-year-old who is, um, busy. I found myself lamenting the fact that I didn’t have time to volunteer anymore. (Quick aside: you really don’t want to hear me lament. It’s a long, arduous, whiny and argumentative process. I’m not absolutely certain why my husband married me, but it probably has something to do with penance for past sins.)
Finally, after a whole lot of listening to me bitch, Jamie asked a quiet question:
“If you don’t have time, what do you have?”
And I call myself the brains behind this operation. Thinking about it, and I’ll make this one short because it’s Friday, there are always things that you can give. You can make an extra sandwich when you’re making your kids’ lunches and give it to a homeless person. You can adopt a child from Africa. You can do anything in between. The only thing you shouldn’t be doing is nothing. Here are some starting points:
At some point, you should think about getting fit. Sitting in front of a computer all day does not a svelte person make. If you’re going to be doing something physical, why not do it for a good cause? If this dude is willing to swim in a river in New York, for God’s sake, I’m sure you or I could manage a walk-a-thon or two. The comments on this post are pretty cool, too.
You probably watch TV. Can you do something worthwhile at the same time? Do not think this is about dolls. This is far bigger than dolls. This is about comfort and caring and nurturing and something far too big for any of us to really understand. Children with AIDS are getting buried with these dolls, people. It’s a pretty big deal.
Odds are, credit card companies are throwing themselves at you in a vile and embarrassing fashion. Why not put your shiny new card to good use instead of buying yet another pair of uncomfortable shoes? Two hundred and fifty bucks gives a child surgery that will stop them from starving to death from not being able to physically eat. Is that a cool way to die? Personally, I don’t want that on my head.
(Note: The last two links are from Sonia Simone’s blog, Remarkable Communication. Sonia’s blog is also the place where Seth Godin told me, directly and by name, that I while I would likely get probation for not reading his new book, The Meatball Sundae, but I probably wouldn’t be arrested. Because of this, even if she becomes a gun-toting, gas-guzzling Republican, Sonia’s blog will always hold a very special place in my heart.)
The bottom line is, there is no excuse for not contributing something. I don’t know if I believe in God or not. What I do know is that if there is a God, I don’t want to be stuck at the Pearly Gates saying I would have given more, but CSI was on and I heard Grissom was going to propose to Sarah. Not cool.
Thank you, everybody, for joining me in the first week of IttyBiz’s home business tutorial. And happy birthday, Colin. I hope six is better than you could have ever imagined.
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