Click to watch my TED Talk – Meant to be Spent

We have had the pleasure and privilege of doing a fair bit of traveling over the years.  In fact, when our sons were 12 and 13 we took them out of school and we home-schooled them for a 2 year period, in order for us to embark upon what we called our “MacLean Family Global Educational Odyssey”.

On this remarkable experiential educational journey we traveled to 7 different countries on over two dozen trips to over 200 destinations, traveling more than 115,000 km.  We embarked upon a vast array of adventures including swimming with sharks in Hawaii, diving with dolphins in Costa Rica, tracking tigers in India, and searching for Scotland’s Loch Ness monster. We zip-lined through tropical rainforests, rappelled down towering waterfalls and white-water rafted through death defying wilderness rivers.

We visited mosques, temples, cathedrals, castles, battlefields and 2000 year old Roman baths. We studied and hiked through the most bio-diverse region on the planet, and studied Central America’s most active volcano, amongst many, many other adventures.

As part of our educational odyssey we led our sons in writing and illustrating children’s books that we sold online to help endangered animal species.  We also donated hundreds of copies of the books to Hope for the Nations to be distributed to orphans and children at risk around the world.

However, what impacted us the most was the work we did with orphans and impoverished people in India and Mexico.  In particular, an encounter with a 14 year old Indian girl named Salma changed the course of our hearts and our family.

Salma lived with her widowed mother amidst the garbage of a slum project in New Delhi.  They were “rag pickers” – those who sifted through the garbage to discover any sort of recyclable material they could exchange for money.

Salma was the same age as our oldest son at the time, yet David towered over her due to the effects of her malnutrition.  She was a wonderful and radiant girl, yet we could not help but be impacted by her lack of the many necessities that we take for granted in our lives: clean water, food, shelter, safety, and education to name a few.

We recognized that we enjoy a certain degree of privilege, and with that privilege comes the responsibility to contribute to the betterment of those who do not have access to the resources we often enjoy.  Through encounters with many orphans and wonderful, yet impoverished people like Salma and her mother, we learned that we are meant to be spent for the benefit of others.

The most fulfilling times on our educational odyssey were not found basking in the tropical Hawaiian sunshine on a dramatic snorkeling excursion – though that was indeed enjoyable.  No, our times of greatest happiness were spent amidst those in need; those whom we could someone contribute to their betterment.  Amongst many life changing lessons, we discovered this truth:

Happiness is not a destination, but the result of a life well served.

If we set happiness as a goal to be pursued – as a destination – it eludes us.  Yet as we set as our goal to serve others, happiness is the delightful result.  Making happiness your goal can very easily turn to selfish and self-centered pursuits.  Making your goal the betterment of other people’s lives through service of some sort ultimately leads to increased happiness.

Your happiness best grows when transplanted in the soil of other people’s lives.

Albert Schweitzer, a celebrated philosopher, doctor and philanthropist said this,

“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve others.”

This is true for life and for leadership.  Those leaders who are truly happy are those who recognize they are meant to be spent for those they lead and are, therefore, actively contributing to their betterment and to the betterment of the local and/or global community.

The truly successful, and truly happy, have discovered they are meant to spent for the benefit of others.

No, happiness is not a destination; it is the delightful result of a life well served.