Tag: positiveimpact

It Matters To That One

Perhaps you have heard this story before by Loren Eiseley…

A man and boy were walking along the shoreline, and the boy kept picking up starfish and tossing them back in the sea. He did this over and over again. Finally, the man said, “There are thousands of starfish on the shore drying out. What difference are you making?” The boy looked at him and replied, “It matters to that one.”

Eiseley’s actual words are much more elegant, but that is the gist. I have long loved the message of that story, and I believe that it can be a very helpful thought to keep in mind in this tumultuous world. Often times when we pursue something, we get frustrated when it doesn’t become “the next big thing,” and we quit because we have not had a sensational impact. Perhaps we give up because something is not as easy as we thought it would be. When these mindsets take hold, it can be easy to miss the little impacts we make.

So how can we open our eyes, hearts, and minds and commit to making little impacts?

  1. Remember the purpose behind what you are doing. It may only have an impact on you, but you never know who is watching and might follow your lead. For example, when I started writing “Matthew & Me,” I did it because I knew that I needed a deep dive into the Gospels, and I knew that as a sinner there might be other people with similar questions that they were afraid to ask. Now there are five devotionals, and though none of them are bestsellers, I’m not done writing. The devotionals have made a difference with my faith, and that makes the effort worth it. If it opens up conversations for someone and helps bring one person to know Jesus, then that one difference will be extraordinary!
  2. Find ways to be helpful to others at least once a week. There are so many people out there with various needs, and I dare say that some are afraid to voice their needs. You can make an impact just by sending a genuine “How are you?” or “I thought of you today” message. You can put food in a roadside pantry; you can donate items you no longer need; you can help a neighbor with a task. It doesn’t have to be a big production. Side note, if you have kids, let them see you do these things. They may follow your lead!
  3. Share your experiences with those around you in an open and honest fashion. If you are on social media, then you have a platform in which you can bring light to topics and make a positive impact on those around you. When you are open and true, you will find that you can help people realize they are not alone. You can also share resources that might have a positive impact on others. Feel free to share my blog anytime! 😂 Seriously though, can you imagine the change that could come from more people using their platforms to be a blessing to others?

That’s a lot of serious thought, and a lot of info to digest. If you take nothing else from this post, remember the starfish.

XOXO,

The Great Kaysby

The Impact of One

Since attending Mass last night, I’ve been thinking about part of St. Paul’s letter to the Romans:  “just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so, through one righteous act, acquittal and life came to all” (Romans 5:18). In the context of Christianity, this is an allusion to how one man’s negative action changed the world for the worse while one man’s positive action changed the world for the better. At first I reflected on how true this is per my beliefs and how in other religions one person has also had a massive impact on all of humanity. When thinking about this today, I started thinking about how frequently in history one person has made either a negative or positive impact on a portion of humanity.

Of course it was easy to think of singular people who have negatively impacted humanity. I immediately thought of Hitler who was directly linked to the start of World War II and the deaths of 6 million Jewish people. Negativity has stemmed from the impact of this one person for the last 90 years (the first Holocaust victims lost their lives in 1933). My next thought was of David Koresh, a cult leader, who did a number of unimaginable things to his followers and ultimately led many of them to their deaths in a fire in 1993. The losses were nowhere close to the scale of the Holocaust, but at age 9, this was the first time I remember seeing the news and thinking, “How can one person influence so many people? Why would people follow them?” Be they politicians, cult leaders, terrorists, criminals, etc there are many instances – more numerous than I can even fathom – where singular people have had a negative impact on humanity. In some respects, this can be downright discouraging.

However there is a light in the darkness! There are single people who have had major positive impacts on people around the world. My first thought was of Civil Rights leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. Both of these men had major positive impacts on the Civil Rights movement. Then, I thought of Marie Curie. Her work with radium has been game changing in the medical field for over 100 years. Though her work ultimately cost her own life, it has saved millions of people. There are also people like Dolly Parton who are constantly positively impacting people by supporting literacy, medical research, and many other causes. When thinking of the positive impact of one person, we also have people like Henry Ford who developed the assembly line, and we have authors like Maya Angelou who impacted Civil Rights and Literature. Looking at the arts, there have been positive impacts by people like Lin Manuel Miranda. The list could go on and on!

My biggest takeaway from this reflection is simple. It can be easy to dwell on the negative impact of one person, but when you start to think about it, the positive impacts of one person occur frequently. What will your impact be?

XOXO,

The Great Kaysby