While I'm busy running amuck with the kiddos, there's one aspect of this goofing off time that I love. Our children's minister here at the church has a son named Jackson and he is a rad lil dude who I can chat with about Marvel Comics, Harry Potter, being a ninja, and other incredible things like that. And on Wednesday nights, just for a few minutes, we will usually have ourselves a little ninja battle. He, along with a couple of his little buddies, will come and attack me and I have to fend them off like a ninja. It is quite a blast and I am pretty sure that Jackson loves it. He is smiling ear-to-ear and giggling the whole time.
This might not seem like much to any of y'all, but I feel like this is a pretty big deal. A quote that I have grown to love says that "success is...to win the affection...of children" so according to this quote, each and every Wednesday that I have my little ninja battles, that day is a successful day for me.
What does it mean for you to be successful? What does it mean for you to have an impact on this world? What does it mean for you to lay your head down on your pillow at night and know that you have made the world around you a better place?
Usually when we think of such things, we think on large scales, we think of huge things we have to begin, create or do. We think about starting a non-profit or volunteering with homeless folks for a semester. We think of mission trips to Africa or evangelizing on street corners. We think of selling all our excess clothes and giving the money to orphans and widows. We always think of success and changing the world in these big kinds of ways, but is that really all that "success" is?
The quote I mentioned above, that I have grown to love says this...
To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intellingent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give of one's self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived - this is to have succeeded.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
When I think about that quote, it puts success, impact and changing the world in a completely different perspective and it puts it in a very doable perspective...not only for me, but for any of us. We can all laugh and love often. We can be respectful and courteous to others. We can win the affections of kids. We can turn the other cheek and love our enemies. We can appreciate the beauty of people and things all around us. We can seek out and discover the best in others. We can give of our time, our energy, our finances and our lives. We can leave this world a bit better by treating folks well, planting some flowers or helping fund a medical clinic in Rwanda. We can play and laugh with all our hearts, we can sing songs and worship like there's no tomorrow, and we can have joy when nobody else thinks we can. We can smile at the lady at Starbucks, we can call the guy taking our order by name, we can tip good, and we can treat the cashier at Wal-Mart with dignity and respect.
When we look at it like this, success and changing the world doesn't seem so overwhelming. It can happen one smile at a time, one warm greeting at a time, one heart-to-heart at a time. It actually just takes us changing ourselves a little bit.
Leo Tolstoy said, "Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."
Gandhi said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world."
Are you becoming the person that can truly impact and change the world around you?
It's not really as difficult as you might think.
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