Do you think you make a difference?
On a day like today, on this particular
holiday, I always wonder if I’ve made enough of a difference. The
individual who we honor today once said, and I quote, “We
must work unceasingly to uplift this nation that we love to a higher
destiny, to a higher plateau of compassion, to a more noble
expression of humanness". I’ve
always tried to do my part; I don’t know whether or not I’ve
succeeded, but I’ve always tried to do my part.
When
I look back at everything I’ve done in the past year, I know that
I’ve done a lot of different things, but part of me always wonders
if they’re things that make a difference. Sure, I give a lot of
tours and do a lot of programs and help with a lot of other things,
but is that really making a “difference”? I mean, when I think
of people who make a “difference”, I think of the people who’ve
moved to other countries to help with victims of natural disasters.
I think of people who selflessly take in homeless children. I think
of people who protest against the many wrongs that take place in our
world. I think of people who put their lives on the line every day
so their fellow human beings can live in some semblance of peace.
Those
are people who really make a difference, people who work unceasingly
to uplift this nation—this planet—to a higher destiny.
Sometimes, I feel like I’m just falling a bit short in that
respect, you know?
When
I was young, I wanted to make a name for myself. But like most
people, as I’ve aged I’ve come to understand that it’s just not
in my destiny to change the world single-handedly. I’ll probably
never be written up in history books, I’ll probably never have a
memorial built to me, and my name won’t be mentioned by generations
to come. As I’ve grown, I’ve become okay with that.
But
in my own way, I still want to make a difference. I want to do
whatever I can to make the place in which I live a better place in
which to live, to help my people who may not be as fortunate or as
free from persecution as am I, and to leave whatever little mark I
can in the time I have on this planet. I may not be able to change
the planet, but I DO want to make a difference, at least as much of a
difference as possible. And that’s why, on a day like today, I
wonder if I’m doing just that, living up to the challenge of one
particular man who DID make a difference.
And on that note, happy King Day. If
you feel like watching this, watch this.
It just might be the single greatest piece of oratory this planet has ever
known. And you wouldn't think it would be as timely today as it was
55 years ago, but, sadly, it is.
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