Investment (n) - an act of devoting time, effort, or energy
to a particular undertaking with the expectation of a worthwhile result.
Every time we hear the word investment, it will lead us to
the idea of money or wealth. However, does anyone familiar with the idea of
investing on relationships? In which relationship here is not only limited on
lovers; but also family, friends, coworkers, colleagues, and any type of
relationship you could ever mention. The main difference of investing in
relationships compared to other type of investment is that we do not need any
assets to start it; we only need to put some effort to do it.
How do we invest on other people? The basic investment would
be listening and giving some interest. Believe me that every person who we met
today, either we met them in the school, public transportation, or even in the
restroom, have stories to tell. Last summer, I had to use “ojek” service to go
from the airport to the place I stayed. (p.s. “Ojek” is like a cab, but instead
of using car to transport people, they use motorbike to do it, it is very
common in Indonesia). We started a conversation, and he told me an interesting
story that he has a daughter younger than me that was working on a scholarship
application process. I assured him that as long as his daughter study hard,
never worry about the money because someone else would pay for her studies. I
have met so many interesting people just by listening and giving some interest.
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| Me and my very good friend, Mike - Japan 2011. He lives in NY. |
Did I invest on people by listening and give some interest?
YES, I just did. By just listening to people story, I just made a new friend. I
might not see him again, but I just assured him that he did not need to worry
about his daughter, and I was inspired that an “ojek” rider wanted his daughter
to get the best education. Win-win! Imagine that for at least once a day, we
put small effort to listen to one person’s story. I bet you that you have no
idea how much these stories could inspire you.
And that would be a short-term investment on people! Short
term could be defined as to people that we might not see again, but we could
never be sure! Because who knows that after years, we would be able to see them
again?
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| Me and Mike's family during Christmas 2013 - Japan 2011 was the last time I saw him. |
Does that mean that there is a long-term investment? Yes!
And stay in my blog for the next part!
Leave comments below for any thought or ideas because I love
to hear back!
If anyone wondering what is WHILAL, read this:
http://chtimw13.blogspot.com/2013/03/introduction-to-whilal.html
"Invest in the human soul, who knows it might be diamond in the rough."
- Mary McLeod Bethune
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