Thinking Out Loud, Volume CDLXXII

I'm actually writing this on a Saturday night, kicked back in my recliner, totally exhausted from the day's activities. I spent most of the afternoon cleaning the vinyl siding on our house, a job I put off for way too long, but it looks sooooo much better than it did this morning when I got out of bed. Yes, I'm tired, but I also feel a great sense of accomplishment, mainly from the satisfaction I receive from just knowing I made a difference today. It's a feeling lazy people rarely get to experience, because if a person wants to achieve this feeling, a significant amount of labor is required. I admit, I was glad to get through, but I'll go to bed early tonight, feeling good about myself and about my day. When the time comes for me to draw my last breath, I want to be able to look back with a sense of pride from knowing I made a positive difference in my world, and other people lived happier lives because of me. My wife, Angie, works for a heart surgeon, and if you live in the Monroe/West Monroe area, you've probably seen the "Grateful" billboards around town showing the faces of individuals who are healthy today due to their heart surgery performed by her boss. Yes, on rare occasions he has to face the anguish of seeing those who were just too sick to save, but what an awesome feeling it must be for him to be able to see someone at a restaurant and be able to say, "We saved his life." I have a friend who is a marriage counselor, and I've often thought about how satisfying it must be for him when he sees happy couples who came to him when everything was falling apart, and he was able to help guide them back on the road to happiness. I'm also friends with a couple who went to China several years ago to adopt a little girl, and now when I see that beautiful, bubbly little nine year old, I can't help but think about what a difference her adoptive parents have made in her life, as well as the difference she has made in theirs. My daughter and son in law are in the process of becoming foster parents, and their goal in this endeavor is to change the lives of a few children for the better. I look at my two little grandchildren, one of which is special needs, and I realize they are living happy lives today because both of their parents go out of their way to see that they do. What about our teachers, our first responders, our police men and women, our military, and our pastors? All of us are living better lives today because of all of them. The good thing about it all is, no matter who we are or what our professions may be, we are all equipped to make positive differences in the lives of others. I will admit there are times when I just don't feel like sitting down and writing my weekly article, but so many of you have told me it's making a difference in your lives, and that's what keeps me going. Making a difference is a great feeling, and I don't want to die without experiencing it over and over in my life, but it requires effort. We have to want it bad enough to work at it. Instead of us sitting back and complaining about the bad shape our world is in, why don't we see what we can do to make it better. Making a difference is a lifelong duty from which we can never retire. Preston