Make a Difference Day

My banker sends me a monthly newsletter full of charming, homespun content along with a monthly/weekly/daily calendar of events. I notice today, October 28th, is "Make a Difference Day" --something most of us can readily identify with, I'm sure, since almost everyone wants to make a contribution that gives life purpose and meaning. Some of us want to make a difference for our families and those close to us, and others want to change the country and the world in positive ways. We think of things like donating time, money or material things; teaching our children well; voting and participating in our democracy; volunteering; improving our homes and little bits of garden; and conserving precious resources -- just to name a few.

But think too of the obstacles. To quote the title of Marilyn Paul's excellent book -- "It's hard to make a difference when you can't find your keys." You know the feeling: "I don't have time to volunteer or vote." "It's too hard to teach or tithe." Overbooked, overwhelmed, stressed out, and drowning in "stuff" makes for a painful road with no time to stop and think about meaningful contributions and life's higher purposes, and precious little time to just stop and think.

Perhaps the place to start on "Make a Difference Day" is with ourselves. How can we better organize our days, our work, our spaces and our lives so that we can be more responsive, able to seize opportunities, have more time to mindfully foster positive change, and build quiet time into our lives to incubate good ideas that will make a difference?

Getting our own lives in order is the first step in being able to make a difference for others. And it doesn't have to all happen today! Small, incremental steps to shed mental and physical clutter will soon lead to identifying the really important goals. Then we can sharpen our focus on them, let go of what's not important, and find ways to simplify many corners of life. As a result, we can in time be ready when the call comes to "make a difference."