American composer Will L. Thompson wrote, “Have I done any good in the world today? Have I helped anyone in need? Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad? If not, I have failed indeed.”
It can be so easy to make a difference in someone else’s life. It could be a one-line email, a card sent in the mail, a quick visit for a cup of tea. It could be a compliment to a stranger, cutting a neighbour’s lawn if you’re out doing your own anyway, dropping a jar of jam off on the porch of someone who is ill. It could be spending time with someone you care about doing nothing at all.
As the summer comes to a close and the new school year begins, may we remind our children how important their words and actions are. As an anonymous meme I recently saw said, “We need to care less about whether our children are academically gifted and more about whether they sit with the lonely kid in the cafeteria.”
We’ve all been lonely and we’ve all been the person who can make a difference. What good can we do in the world today?