Azim Jamal is an international speaker and the chairman and founder of Corporate Sufi Worldwide (www.corporatesufi.com), a company that specializes in inspiring leaders at all levels to unleash potential and regain balance. Harvey McKinnon is one of North America's top fund-raising experts. Early in this paperback, the authors quote the Trappist monk Thomas Merton who said:
"Souls are like athletes who need opponents worthy of them if they are to be tried and extended and pushed to the full use of their powers."
The best exercise for the soul is giving. Helping others reduces self-centeredness, promotes good health, reduces fears, enables us to make good use of our potential, and helps us find meaning, fulfillment, and purpose. Or as social activist Cornel West put it: "A rich life consists fundamentally of serving others, trying to leave the world a little better than you found it."
Jamal and McKinnon focus on what you can give — gifts of time and money or less tangible gifts of love, hope, and leadership. There are plenty of places to give — your family, your community, nonprofit organizations (the authors provide a long list of types of nonprofit groups), and to the planet.
The closing chapter is on corporate giving. Be sure to check out the excellent resource list at the end of The Power of Giving.
