Of Working And Making A Difference!

Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. - William James

Our days are made up of tiny and numerous chores. Some are of our liking, some we have to do because there is no other choice. 

We do have one choice - we can either work grudgingly and let it show in the not-so-satisfactory results or we can do every work with focus, concentration and perfection, and let our efforts show in the exuberant results. And this is applicable to not just working people, but homemakers too! When we have to do a chore, why not do full justice to it? May be we will get some appreciation, may be our efforts will go unnoticed. But we will have the satisfaction of having done a wonderful job. 

I have often come across a phrase - Excellence is a habit that we inculcate. By excelling at every minor chore that we undertake, we can make it a daily part of our lives. By giving our best to every task, by being particular about how we do it, we can achieve excellence in everything we do. It could be a home-chore like cooking or cleaning, or it could be something related to your job, such as a project - whatever the task may be, consider it as an opportunity to deliver the best of you. It does not matter how the others perceived it. Be the sole judge of your own tasks! 

When you work for your own satisfaction, it becomes much easier to perform a task. Often, when we do any chores, be it at home or in the office, we sometimes subject our satisfaction to the outcome and the approval of others. But when you are your own judge, when only your own approval matters, you will be all the more motivated to work better. 

Work need not become a mundane task, you know. It can become a thing of beauty when you do it with a spirit of mindfulness and purpose. If you consider every task as another opportunity to outshine yourself and to help you improve, your task no longer stays as a chore; it becomes a much-anticipated ritual of mindfulness and peace. 

Act as if what you do makes a difference. There is a whole new angle to this quote! We cannot just live for ourselves. Life becomes mundane and unsatisfactory when we think only about ourselves. There is a whole world out there, requiring our help in whatever way we can offer the same. If there is anything that you can do for the betterment of the society around us, do it, no matter how small the gesture may feel. It makes a difference! It need not be something magnanimous. Sometimes it could be a simple gesture of walking away from a fight. It could be, exchanging a smile or a kind word with someone who looks as if they need the same. Sometimes it could be an act of offering encouragement in any form. If there is anything you feel you can do for the world, or for the people around you, no matter how big or small the gesture may feel, do it, because it will make a difference!

I would like to end this with a personal reflection. When I started writing blogs under the Nourishing Reads, it was with the sole intention of providing some soothing reads to people. I thought that by writing some encouraging words, may be I can make a difference to someone's day, if not their whole life. It has been two weeks since I started writing this, and the readership is not as much as I expected. Nevertheless, if even a single person feels better after reading my blogs, I will feel as if my blogs have served their purpose. It is not a very big gesture, compared to the help that many awesome people are offering to the world at large. But this is the only way I can contribute anything to the world. Only as a writer, I can make a difference, and I am hoping that I am. If not to many readers, at least to a few, I hope. It is a small act but I know it has the potential to make a difference. Hence I will keep writing,  regardless of the number of readers or views. 

Act as if everything you do makes a difference. It does, people! It definitely does.