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Making a Living vs. Making a Difference: What being an Everyday Superhero Really Means
Wednesday, April 15, 2015 at 7:00AM 
(l-r): Steven Samra and Tasha French Lemley, publishers of The Contributor newspaper.Of all the videos I’ve watched that highlight stories about disaster relief, the one where a Red Cross volunteer says she "worked in the corporate world for 30 years making a living,” and then retired, and now she wants to make a difference, stood out most. Her statement had me wondering how many of us choose one or the other, rather than overlapping them.
It concerns me that some men and women in communities across the nation feel like they aren't in a position to have a positive impact on other people while also being able to put food on the table. I don’t know about you, but when I picture what the right time to make a difference looks like, that image often doesn’t depict any one of us waiting until some abstract point in the future. After all, the future is uncertain and none of us can guarantee we’ll even be around to see it.
Of course, we all need to make a living to survive and have opportunities to enjoy our days here on this earth. Even in the midst of our daily hustle and bustle, there’s still room to make a difference at the same time, if each person puts forth effort in marrying the two. Prime examples of this can be seen in the tireless, underappreciated and often unglamorous work of everyday heroes who have a positive impact on other people or issues that matter to them upon noticing that something needs to be done.
Yoga training at Rachel Lloyd's GEMS are among the therapeutic and fitness services provided to young women.Thousands of teenagers, like those in the documentary film Very Young Girls would be in jail, dead, on drugs, or still exploited in sex trafficking rings across the U.S. if Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS) CEO and founder Rachel Lloyd waited until retirement to provide counseling, legal assistance and housing to children and young women in the sex trade.
Several hundred homeless veterans like those in the documentary film Street Paper would still be lacking a place to sleep at night if The Contributor newspaper founders Tom Wills and Tasha French Lemley waited for thirty years or until they were done with their careers in fine arts and outreach work, respectively, to provide jobs for men and women – some of whom served in the military -- affected by homelessness and poverty. Heck, most of us would even be up the creek without a paddle today, if the great inventors, activists, philosophers, leaders, and artists of previous generations decided to wait a few more decades before making their mark on the world.
People like Lloyd, Wills and French embody the fact that there is no better time to make a difference than now. We need not put off doing good deeds until later on in the future when it’s more convenient for us. After all, if you’re already on your way to mastering the art of being your own superhero, just imagine how wonderful it would be to teach someone else how it’s done.
M is for Meaning
What was the last documentary YOU watched?
If YOU inherited six figures from a long lost relative, conditional upon your using half of the money to impact other people’s lives, how would YOU make a difference in the world?
Reader Comments (3)
When I had a "day job," I did what I could here and there, but for many, the day job hours are long and exhausting, especially when there are children to raise, too. So, while I agree we can all do something, I do have sympathy for families in this position.
In one of those interesting twists of life, I did come into some money. These days, we help out a lot of small, local businesses, we fund the food bank gardens, and make other contributions to the community. It's a lot of fun and very rewarding, and my life feels full and rich in ways I couldn't have imagined.
I would use the money to address the needs of the many local children in our local schools. Many come to school in the winter without winter coats or boots. No backpacks or basic tools to use in school. Then I would look into summer recreational and afterschool programs that need help to keep running. I've often thought what I would do if I hit the jackpot in some way.
This is such a lovely post and a great encouragement for people to get out and make a difference rather than waiting for the right time. What these individuals did was awesome, but everyone has the power within themselves to make a difference in others' lives.