Remember that thing you did that one time?

“You pretty okay too.” Mr. Miyagi – The Karate Kid

I don’t think it is a secret that most authors don’t get into writing as a way to make money. If that’s the assumption, I can tell you plainly it’s a tough way to make a buck! Most of us just want to tell a good story… a story worth reading that, when it’s put down, the reader can sigh and say, “Well, I really enjoyed that!” That’s really all that most of us want out of this journey, to just know that what we’ve put out in the world helped make someone else’s life a little brighter. It’s a pretty simple dream.

But sometimes I forget that stories have the power to do so much more than entertain us. They have the power to change our perspective, to make us think, to open our minds to new possibilities. I guess I just never thought my little story would have the power to do that for someone else. So, imagine my surprise when I opened my email the other day only to see a message from a reader, a woman I do not know and have never before met, who came upon a copy of my book. She read it and took the time to message me about how it impacted her. She said it made her think of things in her own life that she needed to face from past grief. My heart about stopped when I read her message through teary eyes. And of course what made it so special was the fact that I do not know this woman – we owe one another nothing – but she took the time out of her day to track me down and send this message to an unknown, untested author so that she could express what it meant to her.  It was an incredible gift to receive for a writer. Literally the highest compliment. 

In the past several days since this happened, I have been thinking about the courage it takes to let someone know they’ve impacted you. To let someone know that something they have said or done has left its mark in a positive way on your life. It’s a humbling thing to admit sometimes that we are not an island unto ourselves in this world. We all need inspiration, perspective, guidance, and the feeling that we are not alone in our struggles. 

I guess the point of this story is, you will go through this life and 99 out of a 100 times you won’t know whose lives you are touching with your kindness or creativity or humor or intelligence or compassion or whatever other gift you bring to this world everyday because most people won’t come out and tell you. They may not even realize your impact until much later in life when they look back and remember you fondly. But the important thing is not that they come out to tell you how great you are, it is to keep using your gifts in whatever way you can to be a beacon of light for others regardless of the credit you receive for it. What better feeling can there be than to live a life knowing that by being the best version of yourself, you are also helping others in a way you may never know. And if by some chance you do find out, be grateful and humbly remember all those who did the same for you.