The Wealthiest Clown in the World

Dr. Gerald Jampolsky, a physician, and Diane Cirincione, Ph.D., travel the world as internationally known lecturers and authorities in the fields of psychiatry, health, business, and education. In 1975, Dr. Jampolsky founded the Center for Attitudinal Healing where children and adults with life-threatening illnesses may find peace of mind. There are now 130 Centers in 24 countries.

A few years ago, Jampolsky and Cirincione were traveling to Boston to a conference on laughter and healing. They were picked up at the airport by four clowns. Dr. Jampolsky asked one of the men, who was about 65 years old, how he came to be a clown. "Well," he said, "about three years ago I lost my business and all my money in a stock market crash. I was broke and terribly depressed. Then one day I saw a notice about a class for becoming a clown. I took the class and loved it. I began to volunteer at homes for the elderly and at pediatric wards. I may not have money anymore, but today I'm the wealthiest man I've ever been."

"This man was rich in service," says Jampolsky. "The most important thing we can do in this world is to serve others. That means focusing on loving others without judgment. It means keeping this question constantly in mind: 'What can I do today to be helpful to another person?'

"When I think of service, I think of the quote we use as the motto for our foundation," says Dr. Cirincione, "which is, 'I reach my hand out into the darkness to help another hand back into the light, only to discover that it's my own.' That's the essence of service—we think we're doing something to help another person, but as we do, we help ourselves as well.

"When Mother Theresa told us the story about the little boy and the handful of sugar, it transformed our lives. We realized that giving is not about numbers; it's not about quantity. It's about the quality of what we do and the purity of our hearts. I thought more about this one day as I was cleaning out the toilet bowl.

"The day before, I had been lecturing to 5,000 people at Madison Square Garden. Yet suddenly, as I was scrubbing out the bowl, I had an incredible sense of presence and awareness. I realized that with service, whether I was cleaning the bowl or speaking in front of 5,000 people, it was my state of mind that mattered most. It was only my ego that made one form of service better than the other."

"The most rewarding type of service, though, is when you touch people in a personal way," says Dr. Jampolsky. "It's not enough to just give money. If you don't know how to help, look in the newspaper or on the Internet for places you can call to volunteer. If you have limited time, make a commitment that once a month you will give one day of your time. Not just sort of a commitment, but a real commitment—you'll find it can change your life.

"Ask yourself some major questions as you go through life: What is my purpose in life? Do I go through life being a fault-finder or a love-finder? Do I want to hold on to my grievances? Or am I willing to forgive? It's difficult to want to help anyone when you're holding on to old grievances. Let them go and you'll find that helping others will help you heal.

"Finally, teach your children about service when they are young. We believe it should be part of the K-12 curriculum so that children understand that the world works far better when we are giving and receiving."

What do we live for if not to make life less difficult for each other?

—George Eliot,
English novelist