On Potential, Power, and Making a Difference

I want so much to make a difference in this world! Yet, I feel I fail time and time again to reach my full potential.

I have reached the age where more of my life is behind me than in front of me. The days are flying past at a pace beyond anything I have previously known.

Nonetheless, I remain in awe of this spectacular world God has given us. We – His greatest achievement – are thinking, feeling human beings, not one of us identical to another. He paints sunrises and sunsets for us daily, and they are breathtaking and inspiring. The vast array of creatures on land and in the sea leave wonder in their wake. Even plant life and microorganisms are incredible to behold.

Sadly, many of us go about our daily lives barely recognizing these gifts. We, as a human race, have laid waste to so much beauty around us! We fail to recognize the good, and are often negligent in how we nurture it if we do. The same applies to talents we have been given.

Sometimes I think about the movie It’s a Wonderful Life. When George Bailey (played by Jimmy Stewart) realizes how the world he knows would have played out without him, it makes one pause. The movie shows what a difference his very presence made in so many lives! I want to be that kind of person.

My resolve is to wake each morning that remains to me, give thanks for this very wonderful gift of life, and seek to make a difference each and every day – somehow, somewhere. It may be a miniscule effort. No one may notice. But I want to act in such a way that, had I not, something would be amiss.

I may never get to read all of the books I would like to read, or visit all of the places I would like to see, but if I begin each new day with this resolve, and make some small difference in the world by something that I am able to say or do, then I believe my life will have been worth living. Special talent isn’t needed to be kind and helpful. But each of us is special. Let us use that uniqueness positively and powerfully. No matter who you are, prisoner or president, YOU can make a difference!