Today, a stranger reminded me that our to-do list matters; they helped me understand how our own inspirational story reaches complete strangers across the globe. Today, a stranger made me feel good about me. And I am so grateful he made me stop and think.
Sometimes, busy people tend to forget about “me” – right? It’s no wonder why.
Do most days feel like this? I use the royal “we” for effect, but really I mean “me”.
The alarm goes off. We roll out of bed, maybe take a deep (annoyed) breath because we needed ten more minutes of sleep. Because we stayed up too late reading our Facebook posts. Because we spent extra 3o minutes optimizing our new website. I pummel through the morning routine. I drop off our munchkin, I march into work. Next? charge through our to-do list, support our employees and our clients. Run out of work, and mostly ignore the world around us because the most important things to do are still waiting for us: we are all mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, caretakers, and yes, patients. We laugh, we love, we read and spend anther few hours on the computer. Finally, we put the day to bed; we may or may not feel accomplished.
But today, a Facebook post made me STOP. Made me FEEL. Mr. Raymond Okkelo, a school teacher in Uganda reminded me that I don’t just march through life without making an impact. He set out to change the loneliness for the deaf in an area where there was no sign language schools. We post our images, we make people STOP. We make people FEEL. Oh, yeah! I feel humbled, I am happy.
Bob, Linda and our team sometimes get so caught up in the ‘running of our business’ that we forget to assess the impact we have made. Mr. Okkelo drove me to tears because he reminded me that ‘the power of one’ – the power of ME – really does matter. He reminded me that our to-do list REALLY DOES matters. Lucky me.
So, what ONE thing can you change or add to your to-do list this week? This month? Can you reach out to a friend who seems lonely, ask a friend if they need company during chemotherapy, or buy a five dollar gift card to treat a homeless person to lunch? How about mailing a card to a sick friend?
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How would you feel if you checked one of those “little” things off your to-do list every week? I proudly admit that thanks to The Tutu Project (and of course what I do as a mother), I rest better knowing that my ‘power of one’ matters.
By the way, if you can’t think of any ideas, then feel free to join us in our mission! We are always looking for new team members across the globe! Feel free to contact us anytime if you need a way to give back.
More about Mr. Okkelo’s story can be found at Channel 4’s Unreported World.
Marcela Shine is Founder of Avanzar Ventures, Business Manager of The Tutu Project and an advisor to the Carey Foundation. Her company, Avanzar Ventures, has been supporting the project by providing operational, social media and technical implementation strategy since the inception of the project.