Apparently Benjamin Disraeli said

Apparently Benjamin Disraeli said,

“The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but reveal to them their own.”

 

I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately about Self-Determination Theory which is all about how we need to have choices and feel capable of acting on those choices for our well-being. And yet so often, we do not see our own potential, our riches or the opportunities around us. So, rather than giving money for a community well to be built by an outside contractor, let the community see they have the resources to build their own well – which they will stand back from when it’s completed and say, “Look, we did it ourselves.”

I know words like “agency” and “empowering” have gone out of fashion, but I think they underlie all sustainable change.

Oh, and yes, the other bit of the quote… Of course, imagine a world where everyone had agency AND we all shared our riches. Imagine what could be possible.