You Make a Difference … Every Day
“If you cannot feed a hundred people, feed one.” Mother Teresa
Recently, as I was experiencing the cumulative weight and weariness of the COVID pandemic and feeling less than effective at the end of a long face-shielded and masked clinic, I found myself sharing with a colleague, “This is one of those days when I wonder whether I truly made a difference.”
My colleague smiled (I think – she was masked too), and said, “Yes, I struggle with that often. For a long time, I found myself driving home after the end of a day revisiting all the challenges, frustrations, and hassles of the day. That wasn’t leaving me in a very good place by the time I got home. So, I decided instead to try and recall all of the good things that happened during the day and the lives I was able to touch as well as the people who had positively touched my life, and quickly found there are many of both! That shift has made a huge difference!”
As I was driving home that night thinking about my own day through that lens, many positive images emerged, and I was reminded of “The Starfish Story” originally written by author Loren Eiseley. For those who aren’t familiar with it, the story goes like this:
A man was walking on the beach one day and noticed a boy who was reaching down, picking up a starfish and throwing it in the ocean. As he approached, he called out, “Hello! What are you doing?” The boy looked up and said, “I’m throwing starfish into the ocean”. “Why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?” asked the man. “The tide stranded them. If I don’t throw them in the water before the sun comes up, they’ll die” came the answer. “Surely you realize that there are miles of beach, and thousands of starfish. You’ll never throw them all back, there are too many. You can’t possibly make a difference.” The boy listened politely, then picked up another starfish. As he threw it back into the sea, he said, “It made a difference for that one.”
It doesn’t take much reflection to realize that when we show up with the intention of helping those who come across our path (rather than just getting through the day), we have the opportunity in our work to make a substantial difference, one person (or often, more than one person) at a time. And doing so will completely change our experience – and theirs. On that particular day, it was exactly the reminder I needed. Perhaps that will be the case for you today as well.