I was at a real estate shindig last night in the CBC building in downtown Toronto for NAIOP, a commercial real estate organization, and had the honour and privilege of listening to one of the most humble speeches I have heard in a very long time. The money raised at this dinner goes to the Geneva Centre for Autism in Toronto but the highlight of the evening for me was listening to Andrew Lennox, Senior Vice President of Real Estate at Scotiabank. Andrew was honoured at this dinner for the volunteer work he has done with the Salvation Army and when he rose to accept his award, he focussed not on his accomplishments but rather on the greater sense of accomplishment he receives by volunteering. This is a man who does not attend a few token meetings to line his resume, he is committed to doing good in the world and the Salvation Army is a better organization for having him.
Mr. Lennox talked about how proud he is of the assistance ‘the Army’ gives to the homeless and those less fortunate in the world and explained that members of the Sally Ann and its volunteers offer their support without discrimination or judgement. If someone is in need, the Salvation Army helps. Although the Salvation Army started out as an evangelical organization in the late 1800s, the selflessness he described was not necessarily religious in nature but rather, well, just the epitome of “doing good”. As Andrew mentioned, life is not about getting but rather about giving and the best experiences truly are realized when we give more than we get.
Those who know me are aware that I am not a religious man but I do respect nature and have a deep appreciation for life and how fragile it truly is. As I listened to how much good work the Salvation Army does in this world my mind started thinking about all of the wonderful people I have met over the years in fly fishing who have a similar degree of selflessness as Mr. Lennox. We all have heard of a friend of a friend or know someone personally who selflessly volunteers their time to help – not because of any expectation of recognition but because it is the right thing to do. I don’t know Mr. Lennox personally but he struck me as the kind of person who sees a problem and tries to help. As the audience rose to give a standing ovation I realized that fly fishing is a metaphor for life in that it is not about the catching, it’s about the fishing – and I also realized the world would be a better place with more people like Andrew Lennox…
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