We've moved past the holidays and for some that in itself might be a personal accomplishment. I just wanted to take a quick moment to say- you have tremendous value to so many people. It's easy to lose sight of that but important to hear it every now and then.
I went to a local AHL hockey game tonight- A buddy of mine for over 20 years & I decided to get season tickets for our first time. My buddy and I couldn't be any more different in our life paths but we've always been friends despite such. It's a little wild how things work out, and I'll spare you the details, but a good friend is worth their weight in gold and all that's needed is a certain level of compassion looking out for one another.
On the AHL comment- the seats next to ours include an Air National Guardsman and his (eldest) brother out of 8 children. The eldest brother has some special needs and we've come to become fast friends with them. Tonight we were talking about our history in enjoying the game and came to find out that this one brother has purchased season tickets for the past 10 years for him & his eldest brother (something about the game calms him) and that's just 'their' thing. You wouldn't pick up on it immediately but that's a person that has made a tremendous impact on an other's life and done so without any selfish ambitions. I think we can all learn a little bit from that.
The other side of that coin is he doesn't think he's done anything particularly special- just trying to be a good person is all. I'm sure that many here may feel the the same way, never asking for anything and also not understanding the impact that they impart on other people's lives each and every day.
So I just wanted to take a moment to point out that we all impart value and in one way or another are quite literally changing the world every day whether we recognize it or not. The burden of walking such a path is never knowing how much you impact an another person's life just by being there.
So TL/DR- your efforts to be a good person are not lost on your loved ones and you bring value each and every day to them whether you realize it or not. Give yourself a little bit of grace and acknowledge that you aren't perfect by your own assessment but you likely mean the absolute world to far more people than you believe.
That's the paradox, you might feel like a complete 'zero' but only later find out that you're an absolute 'hero' to all the family & friends you hold dear just by being there for them.
-LD
I went to a local AHL hockey game tonight- A buddy of mine for over 20 years & I decided to get season tickets for our first time. My buddy and I couldn't be any more different in our life paths but we've always been friends despite such. It's a little wild how things work out, and I'll spare you the details, but a good friend is worth their weight in gold and all that's needed is a certain level of compassion looking out for one another.
On the AHL comment- the seats next to ours include an Air National Guardsman and his (eldest) brother out of 8 children. The eldest brother has some special needs and we've come to become fast friends with them. Tonight we were talking about our history in enjoying the game and came to find out that this one brother has purchased season tickets for the past 10 years for him & his eldest brother (something about the game calms him) and that's just 'their' thing. You wouldn't pick up on it immediately but that's a person that has made a tremendous impact on an other's life and done so without any selfish ambitions. I think we can all learn a little bit from that.
The other side of that coin is he doesn't think he's done anything particularly special- just trying to be a good person is all. I'm sure that many here may feel the the same way, never asking for anything and also not understanding the impact that they impart on other people's lives each and every day.
So I just wanted to take a moment to point out that we all impart value and in one way or another are quite literally changing the world every day whether we recognize it or not. The burden of walking such a path is never knowing how much you impact an another person's life just by being there.
So TL/DR- your efforts to be a good person are not lost on your loved ones and you bring value each and every day to them whether you realize it or not. Give yourself a little bit of grace and acknowledge that you aren't perfect by your own assessment but you likely mean the absolute world to far more people than you believe.
That's the paradox, you might feel like a complete 'zero' but only later find out that you're an absolute 'hero' to all the family & friends you hold dear just by being there for them.
-LD
