Have you ever consciously made the decision to be a wise and trusted advisor to someone? I’m not talking about “gettin’ in their bid-ness.” I’m just talking about sharing wisdom, knowledge, experience, and saying the tough things that need to be said that nobody else seems to want to say, or hear for that matter. If so, you may already be a mentor.

Have you, yourself, ever been in a situation where you needed someone to help you or guide you when you have reached the point of giving up? And what if giving up were changed into “letting go,” and letting go meant that you were more receptive to information that could bring you closer to your own truth?

You know, we all have a truth, don’t we? Isn’t it a wonderful thing to connect with your own truth and start working your life from that awareness? And when we get there, don’t you sometimes feel that you must share that awareness with those that could use it, er, as the opportunity reveals itself, of course?

Usually, if people know where exactly to find resource information that will help them, they will make a beeline to it when things get rough. In case you haven’t noticed, there are some people around who know a couple of things about a couple of things, and don’t mind sharing. That’s great!

I hate to sound so damned optimistic, but I wouldn’t be where I am today if it hadn’t been for a few mentors in my life. There are a handful of people in this world that have a profound effect in our own personal lives. Without a little humility, though, we’ll miss it. If you think you know it all already, then why bother listening to anybody, anyway? What I’m saying is this: if you’re really paying attention, you will find that almost everyone has a piece of the puzzle, some knowledge or something that they could share with you that would raise the bar.

Why, there’s Joanna at the Lauder counter in Hecht’s, from whom I always get some piece of it. She once told me to stay humble and to do one thing for someone else each day. It doesn’t have to be a big thing. It can be a small thing. Nevertheless, sometimes the simplest act of kindness can blow me away. What may seem as no big deal to one may be a huge deal to someone else. When a partner of mine was in the hospital, dying of cancer, it was devastating. One day, after leaving the hospital, I was packed into the subway in New York during rush hour and ended up turning around, face to face with a woman who just started talking to me about how she had just come out of a coma, which she was in for the past six months. The conversation was emotionally moving. She took the risk to share her truth to me. Hearing what she had experienced made me grateful for all I have, even the little time I had left with my partner, who, by the way, was one of my greatest mentors. Thank you, Jon. I will see you again…one day.