THE POWER OF TOUCHING ONE LIFE

I have spent my entire seven year career working in education, first as a teacher, then as an administrator, and now as a talent recruiter. I love my job, and what I’m working towards: an opportunity for everyone. Sometimes, however when I share my profession and mission with people, they respond with a statement similar to this one: “I know it’s hard work, but it’s worth it if you touch just one child’s life.”

The first time I heard this, I was frustrated and annoyed. Given the scope of the problems we face: poverty; starvation; war; oppression; you name it; what good is it to change one person’s life? There are seven billion of us, and I’m supposed to feel good about the fact that I reached one person? It made me feel helpless, as though my mission was not achievable, as though I could not substantially alter the lives of the people I wanted to help. Rather than empowering, I found it depressing.

Those feelings haven’t disappeared entirely, but they have evolved, and so I want to share with you a few stories, a question, and a challenge to illustrate that evolution, and to show you that whatever people think about me and other educators is true about us, but about you as well.

On a cold January day, I was walking from my hotel to a nearby recruitment event in Washington, DC. I had intentionally booked a hotel near the event and not rented a car to save my non-profit money. It was probably about 12 degrees that day with a wind chill of “who cares my lips are frozen shut.” When I reached the gates of Gallaudet University, the security guard told me that I still faced about a 15-minute walk to the building where the event was being held. At the same time I arrived, a woman named Abigail was driving through. She worked at Gallaudet, and offered me a ride. Two minutes in a warm over a 15-minute walk in the freezing cold. I had never met Abigail before, and I will likely never see her again, but with that kind gesture, she touched my life.

On a Sunday in June 2014, I was in my bedroom, when I received the worst phone call of my life. It was my mom, calling to tell me she had cancer. I remember having a feeling of pain inside of me that had to come out. After the phone call I stumbled into my apartment’s living room crying and grabbed a chair to steady myself. My roommate Evan was sitting on the couch, and I managed to blubber out that my mom had cancer in response to his inquiring glance. Without saying a word, Evan got up, rushed to me, and gave me a desperately needed hug while I sobbed. He didn’t say anything; he didn’t have to. That hug touched my life.

Touch is a powerful word. It suggests intimacy, care, and love. To touch one life is actually a profound thing, even if it seems like a small gesture. What if EVERYONE touched one life? What if ALL SEVEN BILLION people walking the planet committed to touching one life? Imagine that power.

A touch is a powerful thing, but isn’t actually a hard thing to give. My two stories are very different, but neither involved an act of heroism, but rather an act of decency and empathy. Whether offering a stranger a ride in his moment of stupidity and self-inflicted discomfort, or by hugging a close friend and roommate in his time of need, both Abigail and Evan, in different ways touched my life.

My question to you today is simple: have you touched a life; will you touch a life?

Being an educator does not make me a hero, and touching one life does not allow me to have the impact needed to change the world, but it is nevertheless powerful, and that power resides within each of us. Every day we have the ability to touch someone’s life: a stranger; a friend; a coworker; a lover; a family member. It doesn’t matter. Everyday, we are given countless opportunities to touch the lives of others. Our ability to positively impact the lives of the people around us, whether friends or strangers, does not require a Herculean effort. We don’t need to become martyrs to effect change.

And so as someone who once derided the notion that touching one life was enough, I now leave you with this challenge. Commit, each day, to touching someone’s life, no matter how trivial the gesture may seem to you. That act of kindness creates a domino effect that causes ripples you may never see, but in the moment of your action, you have contributed to something better. If each of us, every day, touched just one life, well I think that would be a powerful thing. Imagine what it might look like if we all made that commitment to see just how good we can be when we put our collective best foot forward.

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