the wonderful world of veena.

11 March 2014

40 days of giving back, day six: reach.

We all have circles of influence, whether we realize it or not. Family and friends. Social media networks. Colleagues and peers. Fellow club or religious organization members. Blog readers. All these people are influenced in some small way by the words that we speak and write and share.

Today's task was to make a list in a journal of my circles of influence, the people who may pay attention to my words, and to choose one circle to share something with today. An article, a photograph, a video, a quote. Anything with a positive message that can be easily passed along.

As I was writing my list in my journal this morning, I had a few different ideas scroll through my head. Like this video that always brings me to tears. Or any of the Mother Teresa or Martin Luther King, Jr quotes I've come across over the years. Or this video that I came across yesterday that I can't stop thinking about. All of these are great examples of things I could have shared today.

But then I remembered Louie Schwartzberg. I remember watching his TED talk when I first arrived in Bombay in November 2012 and being floored by it. I made Norten watch it, who then made Tushar and Sastri watch, who have then made other friends watch. If we were at home on a random night and didn't have anything to do, we would watch this video. It's both beautiful and poignant, and it is a great reminder of how grateful we should always remember to be for just having the opportunity to be a part of this world.

At the beginning of last year, when I was buried deep in Capstone work and gearing up for a busy semester and feeling a little lost in my life, this video and the words spoken by the elderly gentleman were a great comfort to me. I used to watch the video often just to be reminded of those words, of that call to be grateful.

But then I fell out of the habit. Work got busy, online classes got busy, life got busy, and I let that idea of gratefulness fall by the wayside. And then today, when I was thinking of what to share on Facebook [as that is probably my greatest "circle of influence"], the film and the old man's voice popped back into my head, and I knew what I wanted to share.



I hope you enjoy this video as much as I always do, and I hope it encourages you to take a fresh look at the world around you and to be grateful for being a part of it.
xx

Previous Tasks:
Day One - Start a Journal
Day Two - Create a Generosity Jar
Day Three - Tool Up
Day Four - Connect
Day Five - An Attitude of Gratitude

No comments:

Post a Comment