Making a Difference
by Kent M. Keith
 Most people agree on what they
want out of life. They want the basics -- food, clothing, shelter, good health.
They want a beautiful and healthy natural environment. They want opportunities --
education, jobs, and personal growth. They want human dignity and a spiritual
life. They want love. They want peace.
What is
so crazy is that most of these needs can be
met, but we are not meeting them. We live in a world in which hundreds of millions
live without adequate food, clothing, or shelter. Hundreds of millions are sick
and live in poor environments, without the opportunity for a good education,
jobs, or personal growth. Hundreds
of millions struggle for human dignity and spiritual growth. There is not
enough love, not enough peace.
It
doesn't have to be this way. There are no
laws of science or human nature that are preventing us from dramatically
improving the world for all of us. There is no shortage of intelligence or
resources.
The
roadblocks are in our heads and hearts. There are historical animosities, as
well as political and cultural differences, that run deep and are difficult to
overcome. Attitudes are hard to change. But they can change. It takes time and effort. It takes education, negotiation,
and the building of mutual understanding.
But it
can be done. And it is worth doing.
How can
I get started?
1. What problems or issues trouble me or excite me
the most?
2. Have I studied the problems or issues? How can I learn more?
3. Who is already working on these problems? What can I
do?
4. Who can I invite to join me?
5. Can we start in our own neighborhood, or city, or state?
6. When are we going to get started?
Don't
Worry about How Big a Difference
When
you see a way to make a difference by loving people, or doing good, or
succeeding, or being honest and frank, or thinking big, or fighting for the
underdog, or building, or helping people, or giving your best -- do it. Do it
because it gives you meaning and happiness. Don't worry about how big a difference it will make. The
impact of your actions may be hard to judge in advance. In fact, you may never
know all the impacts. You don't need to. All you need to know is that you have done something meaningful.
Paul
Katz tells the story of something he did that was simple for him but had a big
impact on the life of a young man. He must have been twelve years old that first summer,
about twenty-five years ago.
I was fresh out of college, working as the director of a
YMCA summer wilderness camp program for preadolescents. Gavin was an active,
skinny kid with a mischievous quick wit and the propensity to be in the wrong place
at the wrong time.
Our camp repeated a three-week program a few times during
the course of the summer. Gavin was there all day, every day, all summer long.
Over the course of those long summer days, it seemed that he learned every
handhold and foothold of the rock faces we climbed, every rapid of the rivers
we canoed, and every inch of the Appalachian Trail in Connecticut we hiked. He knew all the rules
and, in the spirit of fun and mischief, knew how to break them without causing
concern for safety. I remember him as one of those kids that I grew to enjoy,
but always, always kept a close eye on.
I knew he would push the limit and test my authority, but I gave him freedom
and room to explore anyway.
Coming into camp on the last night of our third and final weeklong
backpack trip together, I noticed a hawk feather off to the side of the trail.
The symbol of strength, grace, and natural beauty struck me at the time as the
perfect way to acknowledge Gavin's participation in the program. The next
morning, in a simple but serious ceremony, my co-leader and I presented him
with the feather. We hiked out that day, and I'm not sure I thought about the feather
again.
Twenty years later, I was working at a YMCA in western Massachusetts. In my
leadership role, I was never surprised to be called to the member service desk
to meet a prospective member. I was surprised, however, when the person across
the desk from me looked at me and my name tag and said, "You are Paul Katz. Did
you used to work in Westport,
Connecticut? I'm Gavin."
I was astounded. His face was unmistakable, but he was more
than six feet tall! In my mind's eye, of course, he was still the skinny little
kid I remembered.
Gavin told me that that summer in the wilderness camp had
been a turning point in his life. He had just finished his graduate degree in
social work, and attributed his career choice to the lessons he learned with me
on the trail.
"Do you remember the hawk feather you gave me at the end
of camp?" he asked.
I did recall the simple ceremony all those years ago.
"I
still have it," he said, explaining that it has traveled with him and always
has a special spot in his bedroom. He asked if he could bring his new wife to
the Y to meet me. She knew all about the hawk feather. She had heard about his
time in the wilderness and had heard stories about me. I was honored in an
indescribable way as I told Gavin I looked forward to meeting his wife.
Paul
learned a valuable lesson: an action that seems small to us can have a big
impact on somebody else.
"The gift I received from Gavin that day taught me
that we must support, challenge, and guide the lives of young people," Paul
says. "They may not show their appreciation, or even acknowledge our efforts.
In fact, we may never know if we've made an impact. But we should support,
challenge, and guide them, anyway."
Do I
know how big a difference I can make?
1. Can I recall a small
act of kindness or recognition that made a big impact on me?
2. Can I recall a small act of my own that made a big
impact on somebody else?
3. What small act of kindness or recognition can I carry out
today? Tomorrow?
Don't
Think You Have Too Little to Offer
Making
a difference is something that each of us can do... Whatever
our condition, whatever our talent or ability, each of us can make a
difference.
I
remember a situation in which I knew so little that it opened up an opportunity
for me to help others. I was a law clerk during the summer of 1975 at the Tokyo office of an international
law firm. The lawyers there were mostly Americans serving as advisors on U.S.
law.
I was
one of five law clerks, and the other four were far ahead of me in their
Japanese language ability. I was assigned to translate Japanese legal
documents, which included a lot of specialized and archaic legal terms. I sat
there, day after day, surrounded by dictionaries, looking up words. It was
tedious, painstaking work.
Because
I knew that I was likely to come across the same terms again and again in other
documents, I decided to write down the definition of each new term as I went
along. By the end of the summer, I had created a small dictionary of Japanese
legal terms and their English translations. I gave it to the senior partner,
suggesting that it might be helpful to law clerks in the future. He was
delighted. He thumbed through the pages and then turned to me and smiled. "You
turned a shortcoming into a contribution," he said simply.
In
small ways or big, each of us can find a way to make a difference. Sometimes,
in discovering how to make the best of a bad situation, we discover how to make
things better for others, and derive personal meaning in the process.
Do I
know what I have to offer?
1. Do I have a unique skill or hobby? Can I use it to make
a difference?
2. Do I have the patience to do things that others won't
do? Can I use that personal quality to make a difference?
3. Do I have a shortcoming or limitation that I can turn
into a contribution?
 This article was excerpted from the book:
Do It Anyway: Finding Personal Meaning and Deep
Happiness by Living the Paradoxical Commandments by Kent M. Keith.
Reprinted with permission of the publisher, New World Library, Novato, CA. ©2008. www.newworldlibrary.com or 800-972-6657 ext. 52.
For More Info or to Order This Book.
About the Author
Kent M. Keith is the author of Do It Anyway, Jesus Did it
Anyway and Anyway: The Paradoxdical
Commandments. He has appeared in
national media from Today to the New York Times. A former attorney and university president,
he is a popular speaker on finding personal meaning in a chaotic world. His website is www.kentmkeith.com. Visit him also at www.paradoxicalcommandments.com.
More books by this author.
| Comments () >> |
 |
 |
