Helping others makes the world a better place to live. One person at a time,
one day at a time, and one deed at a time, we can make a difference that
will leave a lasting impact on the world. May the following narrative
inspire us to strive to help and make a positive difference to others.
As the story goes, every Sunday morning I take a light jog around a park
near my home. There's a lake located in
Let us never doubt that one person can make a difference.
- Ingrid Newkirk |
one corner of the park.
Each time I jog by this lake, I see the same elderly woman sitting at the
water's edge with a small metal cage sitting beside her.
This past Sunday my curiosity got the best of me, so I stopped jogging and
walked over to her. As I got closer, I realized that the metal cage
was in fact a small trap. There were three turtles, unharmed, slowly
walking around the base of the trap. She had a fourth turtle in her lap that
she was carefully scrubbing with a spongy brush.
"Hello," I said. "I see you here every Sunday morning. If you
don't mind my nosiness, I'd love to know what you're doing with these
turtles."
She smiled. "I'm cleaning off their shells," she replied. "Anything on
a turtle's shell, like algae or scum, reduces the turtle's ability to absorb
heat and impedes its ability to swim. It can also corrode and weaken the
shell over time."
"Wow! That's really nice of you!" I exclaimed.
We will find that making a
difference for others makes the biggest difference in us. - Brian
Williams |
She went on: "I spend a couple of hours each Sunday morning, relaxing by
this lake and helping these little guys out. It's my own strange way of
making a difference."
"But don't most freshwater turtles live their
whole lives with algae and scum hanging from their shells?" I asked.
"Yep, sadly, they do," she replied.
I scratched my head. "Well then, don't you think your time could be better
spent? I mean, I think your efforts are kind and all, but there are fresh
water turtles living in lakes all around the world. And 99% of these turtles
don't have kind people like you to help them clean off their shells. So, no
offense… but how exactly are your localized efforts here truly making a
difference?"
The woman giggled aloud.
She then looked down at the turtle in her
lap, scrubbed off the last piece of algae from its shell, and said,
"Sweetie, if this little guy could talk, he'd tell you I just made all the
difference in the world."
The moral: We can change the world, maybe not
all at once, but one person, one animal, and one good deed at a time.
Wake up every morning and pretend like what
we do make a difference. It does.
By Tim Pedrosa
When our heart speaks
to us about what we need to do to make a difference on this planet, let us
listen to it, make a difference, and be an inspiration for generations to
come.
To make a difference in
someone’s life, we don’t have to be brilliant, rich, beautiful, nor
perfect. We just have to care enough and be there.
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Tim
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