You Are a Powerful Force in the World!
We go throughout our lives comparing ourselves to the doers, and the shakers of the world…and most of the time we think we fail to measure up. For most of us, we don’t have our last name on the sides of planes, or helicopters, or buildings. We don’t have anyone quaking in their boots over the opportunity to meet us. No one asks for our autograph, or stops to get a picture taken with us. We don’t have a staff of people catering to our every whim. We are not millionaires, or billionaires.
And because those things aren’t happening in our lives, we think we are unimportant.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
My parents weren’t much in the eyes of the world, but there still remains a hole in my heart over their loss…and my dad passed away over 40 years ago. If you have been a blessing to someone-you will be missed. Family, friends, spouses, children, fellow workers…if you have been kind and thoughtful to them while you were alive…they will mourn your loss when you are gone. You were important.
Each one of us is a piece to a puzzle for our family and our community. Remove the piece, and there is an empty spot remaining. Each piece is unique. It only fits in that one particular spot. You can’t just plug another piece in where you once were. Sure, if you stand back you can see the complete picture, and the hole is hardly noticed; but upon close examination, the space remains.
Life is about making choices. The examples above are all about those who are a blessing in someone else’s life. You can also be a powerful force in the world by being a curse in someone’s life as well. Those of us picked on by a bully in school carry the pain of those encounters for a very long time…perhaps a lifetime. Those who prey upon the elderly, the sick, the handicapped…they are a powerful force too…an evil force. Those who rob, kill, and eventually end up in prison have a huge impact on the people whom they have hurt. To those who selected this path, the rest of us wish you had never been born. I guess, if you wish to be a curse, there is power in that.
So you see, every one of us…depending on how we live our lives, we can be a powerful force.
What prompted me to write this post was last night I was recalling a dear friend who passed away several years ago. Her name was Nancy Cameron. Nancy founded an adoption agency in Brazil. Through Nancy, thousands of children without a home ended up in loving families. Her organization paid for children to be educated here in the states so they could return to Brazil to help their families and community. Dozens of children were brought to the states to receive specialized medical care, and returned to their families to live happy, healthy lives.
If you consider Nancy, then think of all the children she directly helped, then take into account all the people in that child’s life who were affected by Nancy’s kindness, then think of all the possible people that child could impact later in life as an adult; it quickly becomes apparent how powerful a force just one person can be.
Diminishing our worth, and our power is a cop-out. How many times do we hear someone say, “What was I supposed to do…I am just one person?” Who will be the voice for the lost among us, if we turn and walk away? If not us, then who?
When you think of the power of the individual, there can be only one person who comes to mind…Mother Teresa. I’ll end this piece with three quotes. Each one of them is so powerful, I just couldn’t limit myself to just one…
Be faithful in small things because it is in the them that your strength lies.
Love begins at home and it is not how much we do…but how much love we put in that action.
Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.