ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! ...............AND SO ARE YOU!



Recently I’ve been watching several Ted Talks, as well as other inspirational videos and podcasts.  Those inspirations have definitely served in providing me with enrichment and given me new perspectives and insights.  However, at the same time, I found myself somewhat distressed, asking myself if I’m supposed to do something more than what I am already doing.  I started thinking of things in my life that are not where I want them to be and expect them to be and wondering if it is due to some faulty approach.  Or maybe I’m just not doing enough, to make it all happen.  I also wondered; what if others are not finding value in what I am doing, should I do it anyway?  After a few sleepless nights and digging deep, I came up with my answer.  Why am I not the “female” Elon Musk?  Because I am not supposed to be!  We cannot all be Elon Musk.  The world just needs one.  The rest of us are meant to be who we are, and that is up to us to find out and choose.   

We all have something of value to contribute, a purpose in life.  I believe we are here because we are meant to be here, at this time and in this space.  When people who have overcome challenges and achieved great success, share their life’s journey, their pearls of wisdom, they are doing it as much for themselves as they are for everyone else.  It feels good to spread ideas, share your life’s trials and tribulations and give back.  It provides one with a sense of purpose and a connection to everyone else.  What it’s not meant to do is to say that those same people are better than you or me, more valued and that somehow, we were supposed to have done the same.  

We each have to discover our own path and define our journey.  We also need to realize that lots of things count as contributions and they matter.  Small, seemingly insignificant acts can have significant consequences, “good” or “bad”.  We often underestimate the little things that impact everyday life and dismiss them as unimportant, because they did not make the front page news, win some sort of award or were noticed at all.  Often times we'll never find out what difference our small acts made.  We just have to take it on faith. What we can hold onto, is the idea that we had the choice to either do nothing or do something.  If we chose to do something, anything, that is enough.  

When I was about eleven years old, my family lived in an apartment building and above our floor lived an elderly woman.  She never went out much and she didn’t seem to have any family, at least none that I ever saw come to visit.  I’m not quite sure how we met.  It could have been one day my mom sent me up to her floor to borrow an egg or a cup of milk.  Either way, I just started to go and visit her at least once a week.  She would show me different paintings she had painted and talked about all sorts of interesting and unique artifacts in her apartment that held special memories for her.  I looked forward to seeing her every week. Then one day I  came home from school and saw movers take all of her belongings, except for a very delicate and very special mocha, china set, which she had asked to be left to me.  I don’t know what my visits meant, but I do know they were special to me.  I felt happy seeing her light up, as I walked through her door, knowing she had someone to tell her stories to.  It never made headline news or helped propel humanity forward into the future. It gave no further insight to the cure for cancer and no movie was ever made.  Yet somehow those visits mattered a whole lot to one elderly and lonely woman and to one young girl, who had someone looking forward to seeing her every week and who wanted to spend time with her.   

Every day you are choosing to do things, and if you stop and take note, you might realize that they do matter to someone, and that life would not be the same without you in the picture even if you are not on the front page news.  Doing “something”, sets things in motion.  You may never know the number of ripples that have been initiated or the extent of their reach, but you can be sure that you have set things in motion and that in itself is enough. 

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