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Take a hard look at your life. Are the things you thought would bring you happiness really giving you joy?
Graham and Treena Kerr know what it is to have had it all. They’ve enjoyed television fame through The Galloping Gourmet, book sales of more than 14 million copies, money, nice cars, yachts, huge homes. But it wasn’t until they gave up everything and began to put their money to work for the poor that they found true happiness. In their new book, Recipe for Life (September 1, 2006 – B&H Publishing Group), they show you how they did it – and how you can also turn the consumption habits that harm you into resources that will change the world.
The key word for the Kerrs is “outdulgence,” giving up something of ourselves for others. Outdulgence is a transforming way of life that takes self-serving consumption habits –cars, clothes, boats, wine, swimming pools, or even simple things, like eating the wrong foods –and trades them for creative simplicity and healthy self-denial in order to help others. Outdulgence is a way of making concrete, lasting changes in the world by eliminating parts of your lifestyle that are unnecessary or harmful.
It involves simple things. Putting the money you spend on lattes into a fund for a special project in a third world country. Forgoing some luxuries, such as getting your nails done, or perhaps dinner out three times a week. Small amounts add up to big differences, when used with a focused energy and commitment.
The Kerrs challenge us to discover what habit is harmful to us. Is it unhealthy food choices? Expensive entertainment that fails to satisfy? A pricey vehicle that consumes too much gasoline? There’s no end to the things we think we need. But do they bring us health and happiness? What might happen if we channeled the money we spend on unnecessary things or harmful habits into helping others?
It takes three years to get rid of a bad habit, say the Kerrs. They encourage us to commit the funds we save from letting go of this habit (smoking cigarettes, for example) to a charitable organization for three years. By committing our funds to a particular organization for that time period, we:
- Are more careful about who or what we commit our funds to
- Hold a charitable organization more accountable for their actions
- Let the harmful habit we’ve given up have time to die out completely
- Help the charitable organization plan for the future, with the confidence of our longer-term commitment
The Kerrs also encourage us to look at six key words: humility and compassion; abundance and contentment; enjoyment and endurance. Humility and compassion means exploring how we might restore relationships and make better use of our time and influence. Abundance and contentment is about financial planning, and looking at our motivations. Enjoyment and endurance include prioritizing what we like doing, and assessing past hurdles that seem impossible to clear, yet were overcome. By exploring these topics, we are better able to make lasting changes in our life and our giving.
So now you’re ready to dive in and make a difference? Perhaps you’re overwhelmed by the sheer number of charitable organizations clamoring for funding.
The Kerrs help simplify the process by including information in Recipe for Life such as:
- A list of charitable organizations by topic (hunger, housing, health, prisoners and their families, orphans, widows and widowers)
- Sample questions to ask an agency before making a commitment
- Sample letter promising your support and funding that can be sent to an organization once the commitment is made.