To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world. -Heather Cortez
Go ahead and cry, I’ll catch your tears… A few weeks after one of his classmates died, an eight-year-old boy decided to visit the classmates home one day after school. Later when he returned home, his mother was surprised to find out where her boy had been. “What did you say?” She asked him gently. “Nothing” he replied. “I just sat on his mom’s lap and helped her cry.”
You never know how much good a simple smile can do… Each morning a middle school teacher noticed a lone student standing out in the hallway. The boy had a withered arm and leg, and he always stood unsmiling and alone. None of the other students spoke with him. The teacher decided to make a point of greeting the boy in the hall each morning with a friendly smile and hello. On the last day of school, the teacher found a bright yellow envelope on his desk. Inside was a note from the student. All it said was “Dear Mr. Tice, it was so nice of you to say hello to me in the hall each day.”
Even your mere presence can be a present to the world… There once was an elderly, despondent woman in a nursing home. She wouldn’t speak to anyone or request anything. She merely existed-rocking the day away in her rocking chair. The old woman didn’t have many visitors, but every couple of mornings a concerned young nurse would go into her room. The nurse didn’t try to speak or ask questions. She simply pulled up another rocking chair beside the old woman and rocked with her. Weeks later, the old woman finally spoke. There were tears in her eyes. “Thank you,” she said, “for rocking with me.”
Today will you stop to help someone in need, or will you turn away?
There is a cause or an issue out there with your name on it, something you care about, someplace where you can serve or make a difference in a way that is unique to you. Whatever it is, find it- and follow it. Let the answers to these questions guide you.
To make a difference is not a matter of accident, a matter of casual occurrence of the tides. People choose to make a difference. – Maya Angelou
Are you a “natural” at entertaining children, working with animals, giving speeches, planning events, taking pictures, talking on the phone, being patient with the elderly, crunching numbers, writing letters, rallying support…or just working quietly behind the scenes to get things done?
Know in your heart that these gifts are given to you for a reason—how can you use them for good?
Everybody has a strength to share…if we can create vehicles in which people can contribute whatever their particular unique talent or gift is, then that can really change the world. -Bill Shore, founder, Share Our Strength
