What do we earn

There's an advertising war raging between Cadillac and Ford about the American spirit and what hard work earns us. Check out the two videos and some analysis here. Basically Cadillac claims Americans work harder (not taking a month off in August) and therefore deserve nicer things. Ford on the other hand says our world is better cause we work harder and for the common good. So, a few questions and my lessons learned:

What do we earn in life? How?
By working hard, loving fully, being smart, taking risks?
What can I expect in return for putting my best into the world?

Recently, these questions came up in conversations with Rachel. My personal experience to relate to these questions is that I feel that I'm pouring my heart, time, and energy into this six-month fellowship with Ultimate Peace. On top of asking the questions about how to have as much impact as I can, I'm asking what can I expect personally in return. Can I expect that others will do their best? Will I see the fruits of my labor and maybe even the direct spoils? Here are a couple of the lessons I'm learning:

Lesson # 1. Its not about me. Especially in nonprofit work, and in most kinds of leadership, its not about me. Its about the mission, the program, the participants and volunteers.

Lesson # 2. My "earnings" perspective is often shaped by the if-then expectation. Basically that what you put into something is returned to you -- in a different form, but on the same scale and easily identified. Examples: put in 40 hours of work a week, get paid for that time; give love and receive love; allow the car in front of you in and be allowed in next time you need it. Yet the world is not always so clear-cut. In fact, it often seems like the effort we put in does not come back to us at all.

What I'm finding (in relationships and in work) is that we need to think beyond how our effort comes back to us, and more onto how our effort goes to others. And not in a tit-for-tat way... that we are giving of ourselves to a common pot (consider it perhaps the "effort pot"). The richer that pot is the better, though it might not be better for you personally, immediately, or even in the material sense.

Unrelated picture from yesterday's UP meeting/practice ahead of the US tour (someone said "jump" just before taking the shot):