You make a difference

 As  I continue to read "The Art of Possibility" I  am heartened by the examples of how perceptions changed people's experiences.
One story the author, Zander, tells is of a young woman on a beach where thousands of star fish have been stranded, high and dry and soon to perish. A man approaching the girl from a distance perceives her to be dancing with a graceful movement raising her arms in the air. As he gets closer he sees that she is throwing the star fish back into the ocean. In a mocking tone he comments that there are star fish as far as the eye can see, what difference can saving a few make. Smiling the young woman reaches down and tossing one more out over the water she says serenely "It certainly makes a difference to this one."

If we don't look to measure the degrees of success or failure of a venture but approach it as someone who can contribute, it changes our experience of life. The young woman could just as easily have abandoned her task seeing the futility of her endeavor but no, she is serene in the act of contributing to this one star fish.  Zander asks us to put it to ourselves, "How will I be a contributor today?" When we ask this question we more easily come into the present moment and there is no where else to be, no other person to be with, we look to contribute to this moment, to this person, to this endeavor. It shifts our thinking from - what do I get out of this or evaluating, will my effort be worthwhile?

So I declare myself a contributor today. I throw myself into life as someone who makes a difference. I don't have to understand how or why.

I am inventing myself  in a way that we all are, everyday. How are you inventing yourself today and how is it working for you?


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