I Believe

I believe that as great as the needs that exist in the world are (and they are great), our individual and collective ability and capacity to meet those needs is greater.I believe that needs are not confined to some remote, underprivileged area halfway across the globe - they exist in those who populate our places of work and worship, on both sides of the podium in the schools where are children are being educated, in the stores and restaurants that we frequent, the social settings in which we routinely find ourselves and, on occasion, sitting across from us at the dining room table.I believe that the events that give rise to needs don’t discriminate based on political ideology, age, ethnicity, gender, sexual preference, social status and/or educational background and they almost never are a matter of choice.I believe that when it comes to meeting needs one person can make a difference "simply" by using their hands to lend a helping one, their feet to walk a mile in another’s footsteps, their heart to display empathy and compassion, their mind to become educated, their tongue to speak out on behalf of those who may have temporarily lost or forgotten their voice or, even less demanding, their ears to listen.Most importantly, with each passing day, I believe that every tear that falls, every heart that breaks and every life that’s lost, literally or figuratively, due to indifference, inaction and/or ignorance diminishes all of us.Why not take a minute today to make a difference . . .to be the reason for someone else's smileto offer a word of affirmation or encouragement to a soul that's doubting its worthto hug a heart that longs only to know that it's not aloneto dry a tearto be a lighthouse of loveto lend an empathetic, non-judgmental earto allow your eyes to serve as reflection ponds in which another can finally see the truth about themselves.Who knows you just might change a life - or save one.