I learned a lot this week from today's Neighbourhood Hero, Dwayne Schulz. How much?

Let me count the ways.

Lesson one - If not now, when?

Five or six years ago, Schulz was down ... way down. "I was divorced, broke and going nowhere," he told me.

Then he heard a story about a 75 year-old man who was listening to a much younger man play the piano.

"That's something I've always wanted to do," he told the piano player.

"The kind of tunes I play are easy to learn," the young fellow responded. "I could teach you to play in a year."

"But I'm 75. I'm way too old."

"So what do you want to be?" came the response, "a 76 year-old piano player or a 76 year-old man still wishing he could play the piano?"

It's a long story but that led to Schultz selling everything he owned and taking off to Europe and Africa for a year. He came back with a definite sparkle in his eye.

Lesson two - You don't have to be rich to own your own home.

Schultz came back with very little money in his jeans but, as luck would have it, his old job became available just a few days before he returned. Back at work, he as able to get a mortgage using the few dollars he had left as a down payment.

His realtor called the house, "dozer bate". It had a leaky roof, three inches of water in the basement and much of the inside had been used as space to raise puppies. But now it was his home, and the transformation began

Lesson three - What goes around comes around.

When you have spent much of your life making friends and helping others, those friends usually turn up when you need them.

Although there's still a lot to do around the place, with help from his friends and a whole lot of his own sweat, things have definitely changed for the better and yet, as busy as he is, he still finds time to help friends and family when he sees an opportunity.

As we were sitting inside chatting, Schulz pointed out different things in the house that friends had helped with and two paintings given by others. The house was filled with love and friendship.

And all the time we were sitting inside, another friend was busy welding a new bed on Schulz's truck so he can carry his newly purchased Bob Cat. Eventually, he wants to "move dirt" for a living.

Lesson four: Energy and enthusiasm will take you far.

I met Mike Castle at lunch the day I was to meet Dwayne Schulz for the first time.

"One of your employees at Newcastle Nissan is going to be our Neighbourhood Hero this week," I told him.

"That would be Dwayne Schult," he shot back immediately. "His energy has always astounded me."

It was because of Schulz's energy and enthusiasm that Castle hired him in the first place. In the middle of his interview, while showing Schulz around the lot, Mike got called away and when he returned, Schultz had sold a car. He hadn't been hired yet.

Lesson five: Giving of yourself in volunteer relationships returns huge dividends.

If you saw the look on Schultz's face as he talked about different people he had mentored at Nanaimo Youth Services or taught at Literacy Nanaimo, you'd know what I meant.

Lesson six: Use "joy" as your life barometer

In short, Schultz's approach to life is to look for joy and if you aren't finding it where you are, move on until you do.

I liked that one almost as much as the one about the piano player.