Small Business and the LDS Community

[john doe]

 

This post has reminded me of the words of a popular Primary song that I'm sure many of the life long members here would have sung and loved as children

 

1. 1. "Give," said the little stream,
   "Give, oh! give, give, oh! give."
   "Give," said the little stream,
   As it hurried down the hill;
   "I'm small, I know, but wherever I go
   The fields grow greener still."
2. Singing, singing all the day,
   "Give away, oh! give away."
   Singing, singing all the day,
   "Give, oh! give away."
3. 2. "Give," said the little rain,
   "Give, oh! give, give, oh! give."
   "Give," said the little rain,
   As it fell upon the flow'rs;
   "I'll raise their drooping heads again,"
   As it fell upon the flow'rs.
4. 3. Give, then, as Jesus gives,
   Give, oh! give, give, oh! give.
   Give, then, as Jesus gives;
   There is something all can give.
   Do as the streams and blossoms do:
   For God and others live.

 

 

You'll notice that the song doesn't say "Take from the Little Stream, Take, oh take". The idea of the song is that we should be sharing and doing things for others of our own free will. It's about the mindset of performing unexpected service for others. And that's a great concept. It's called being unselfish and lifting others.

 

It's when others think or expect that you should give or donate your talents to them that the problems begin. When they expect you to do something for them for free merely because they don't want to pay for it, or that you go to the same church, or that you are family or friends, then they are the ones who are being selfish.

 

I work in the automotive service repair industry. I make my living working on cars. I also work part time selling auto parts. Some people think that that means I should have no problem after a long day of working and talking to people about cars, to come home and work on their stuff for free. But my sweet wife has made sure to let anyone who approaches me about their car know right up front to expect to pay me for my services if they ask for my help. Setting that boundary from the outset gets the relationship going off on the right foot. People who come up to me now expect that they will be paying me for my services if I help them. Occasionally, depending on the problem and the person, and their personal situation, I may finish a job and refuse payment. But that's my choice, not theirs. That's where 'Give said the Little Stream' comes into play for me. It's about giving, not taking. 'Taking' removes my ability to grow by giving service, and the recipient's ability to grow by thankfully receiving service they fully expected to pay for.

 

But it's not an LDS thing, it's a societal thing. Look at how much more certain segments of society want to take from those of us who work hard without putting in any effort of their own to better themselves. The governmental welfare system is broken. We now have people who feel they are owed something for not working, or because their ancestors may have been abused by someone else's ancestors. Or because they belong to a 'minority' group, race, or class. The end story is generally the same: they want something for free without putting in any effort to earn it for themselves. That's not me 'giving', that's someone else deciding to 'take' from me.