After watching Joe Biden and Kamala Harris get sworn in on Wednesday, and before watching the inaugural concert, I managed to slip in a conversation with a podcaster. As we were talking about how to identify talents and work with passion, the conversation shifted to a discussion of working for “free.” She wasn’t getting financial compensation to create her podcast, nor was I for my interview. We are both promoting ideas that we love. We are pursuing our passions. As we finished our talk, it became even more clear to me that money isn’t our only currency. I work to promote and teach ideas as a service to our world. It is my purpose. I work to inspire others. I work for the love of my daughter, my dog and my new grandbunny. I work to take care of my physical self. I work to open my eyes to new parts of the world that I haven’t seen before. I work to heal and grow myself and others. I work to knock down doors, open up minds and uplift people. If my primary currency were dollars, I’m sure I’d be doing something else.

In my books, Generosity is the first of the advanced steps to Mind-Blowing Happiness™. It’s the point where you pivot from foundational ideas like healing, spirituality, community, self-love and peacefulness, to less-obvious paths. In Thinking Outside the Chrysalis, Drop #6 is “Give it Away for Free.” In 12 Steps to Mind-Blowing Happiness, Step #6 is “Throw the Boomerang.” Both point to the importance of generosity, not only as a way to help others, but as a way to help ourselves. Money isn’t our only currency. We work for joy. We work for passion. We work for the privilege and the pleasure of sharing our talents with the world. Of course, we all need a place to lay our heads at the end of the day. Money is necessary, but it’s not most important.

I spoke to another podcaster earlier in the week who quipped that people in public office must be self-centered; why else would they aspire to that? It’s true some are motivated by narcissism and power. We just had four years of that. But some are motivated by service. Some are motivated by compassion. Some are motivated by justice. Some are motivated by love.

Now, that we’ve survived the first three weeks of 2021, let’s try being motivated by love.

• Wear a mask to protect other people, even when you find it awkward, unnecessary or uncomfortable.
• If you catch COVID, notify the people you’ve been around so they can take steps to take care of themselves, get tested and reduce the chance of spreading it further.
• Maintain a social distance from others as you pass them on the street or in other public places so that they can feel safe and comfortable.
• If you’ve been around higher-risk, untested people (like my very own college student) self-quarantine to be sure you don’t inadvertently spread the virus.

I hope the Biden/Harris administration brings back a return to basic decency in government. We have a lot of work to do, but if we want to change the world, we’ve got to begin by changing ourselves. We must learn to take pleasure in the process.

I wish you Freedom, Alignment and Effortless Abundance!