Making a Difference

"What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make." Jane Goodall

Do you believe Jane Goodall's assumption that what you do makes a difference? Do you think it matters how you live your life? If your answer to those questions is 'no', then you will lead a different life from the person who answers 'yes'. I'm not passing judgment on which of those lives is better or easier or the one to aspire to, but I do believe that they will not resemble each other much.

If we believe that our actions, thoughts, and feelings make a difference in our small world and in the bigger world, we assume responsibility for them. We create an 'ability to respond' as my friend and colleague Marcia Walker says (www.stepbystepcoaching.biz). We choose to respond to people and circumstances with thought and intention, rather than react because our emotional buttons were pushed. We think about the consequences of our behavior and we take others' feelings and needs into consideration. In other words the difference we choose to make is one of spreading Love, even to those we may not feel so sure deserve it!

If we don't believe that what we do makes a difference, then we cruise through life on a 'pass'. We do what we want when we want just because it feels good to us. We leave havoc in our wake, hurting feelings, mangling relationships, being accountable to no one. Personally I think that if we weren't supposed to hold each other accountable and support each other on our journeys, then God would have put us here one at a time. but here we are all on this planet at once, called upon to learn, grow, and live together.
What kind of difference do you want to make?