One Apple A Day #536 - help others shine
"We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own." —Ben Sweetland
My first boss was, he still is, an incredibly talented, smart and knowledgable person. In my eyes, he knew everything about software development. We worked together for a long time, and we became friends. It was the time of the Internet Bubble, the beginning of this millennium. Life was great for software developers. We worked a lot, most of the time on exciting projects, and we were well paid. During all those years, he kept teaching. It wasn't a well-paid job, not compare to software development and, considering the amount of time spent in the office, I couldn't understand why he was investing so much time in teaching. When I asked him, he told me that teaching was the better way he knew to learn and improve himself. I have to admit, I couldn't really understand his answer at the time. To me, he was already the most competent person in my field.
But this morning, while I was reflecting upon the power of helping others shine, his story came up. If you are struggling to overcome a tough situation, or you want to grow, but you can't find your way forward, you can try helping someone else who's on a similar journey. When you help someone else shine, their light will brighten your path.