Category: Making A Difference

A friend of mine donates blood religiously.

It’s integrated into his lifestyle and it’s one of the ways he gives back.

And given that it can save up to three lives in about a one hour time commitment… it’s relatively an easy thing to do.

I don’t donate as frequently as he does, and it has probably been a year since I donated last… but I just scheduled my next appointment and I plan to make it a bi-monthly occurrence.

It was one of those reminders, at least it was for me, that the biggest, most grandiose plan(s) to change the world mean nothing compared to even the smallest of actions.

Hi Matt,

I just wanted to write and thank you so much for all your work pulling all these quotes together. I am a fellow quote collector and have mountains of notebooks filled with them, with no sense of order at all. Your website is a treasure trove, and I really appreciate the labour of love it must have been (and still is).

Many Thanks,

Sonya

Sent from my iPhone

The reason I wanted to share this email that I received this morning is two-fold:

1) It’s a beautiful example of expressed gratitude. Something I challenged the readers of this blog to integrate into their lives during the month of November. It’s pure, it’s short, there’s no ask or expected favors in return, and it was sent evidently on a whim—as is indicated by the “Sent from my iPhone” stamp which was included at the bottom of the email (which is why I included it above). If you haven’t started the challenge yet or are just hearing about this now, consider this your invitation. Because…

2) It’s a beautiful example of the rippling effect expressed gratitude can have. This email made my morning. It brought a big smile to my face, made me feel pride towards the work I’ve done building MoveMe Quotes, and inspired this very post that’s being sent out to hundreds of readers—something that never would’ve happened without the expressed part of the gratitude. And now, maybe some of you will go out on a whim and send an email / text / or note to someone you want to thank in your life.

I hope you will.

Since my websites have been infected and broken, I’ve received a handful of “Miss your writing” notes—via email, text, and in person.

I can’t tell you how meaningful these notes are.

Knowing that all of this extracurricular work I’m doing—that I certainly don’t have to do—is something that is missed when it’s gone is an excellent sign that it’s work worth continuing.

And it’s precisely the inner work question I’d encourage you to reflect on today:

“What’s the work that I’m doing now that will be most missed when it’s gone?”

Regardless of how you answer, follow it up with: “How can I incorporate more work into my life that’s missed when it’s gone?”

Use these questions as a compass to gain a better sense of what’s actually making an impact in your life—because not all work is equally impactful.

And if you’re wondering what work like that even looks like…

Think gift giving. Building, creating, initiating gifts that are given to the world—your world—in an attempt to brighten, uplift, encourage—make better—the people who receive it.

For me, this is an insight a day—emailed as a gift; quotes curated into digestible lists—freely published and shared as a gift; mini speeches given at the end of my live martial arts classes—offering food for thought as a gift… to name a few.

The question for you to reflect on is: What will your gift(s) be?

Driving home from work this afternoon, I saw a landscaping crew blowing trash into the street.

And not just grass clippings or weeds or small cigarette butts… I’m talking trash that looked like it was dumped from a trash can—trash. Things like McDonalds paper bags, Super Size to-go cups, plastic food wrappers, empty chip bags, AND grass clippings/ weeds/ cigarette butts…

I can almost see the train of thought in my head: “Cleaning up trash isn’t our job.”

“…We mow, we weed whack, we hedge, we blow, and we go.”

And they’re not wrong.

Cleaning up other people’s trash shouldn’t be anyone’s job except the person who did the trashing—and the greatly appreciated workers who are hired to transport it from our cans/bins to the appropriate community location.

And yet, in that moment… I couldn’t help but feel like they were doing something wrong.

If you’re going to go through the effort of blowing it around and into the street, why not just bend over, pick it up, and put it in a garbage bag that’s preemptively set aside? Why not go the extra mile (or extra few steps) and properly deal with the property you were hired to care for? Why not be the change rather than perpetuate the problem?

I say this not from a place of judgement, but from a place of care. I say this not from a place of being perfect at doing this myself, but from a place of inquisition. I say this not to call people out, but to inspire others—myself included—to step it up.

I say this because I think, it’s what more of us need to hear.