Here’s to the Lives that You’re Gonna Change
“Here’s to the lives that you’re gonna change” – an excerpt from the song Have It All by Jason Mraz
Have you ever changed someone’s life? I think many of us believe that we have to DO something significant in order to affect someone’s life in such a dramatic way. But what if I told you that you’ve most likely already changed lives for the better, and that all you needed to do was to exist. Would you believe it?
Here’s what led me to believe this to be true: Between my elder son and my daughter, I had a miscarriage. It was one of the most emotionally painful experiences of my life. It was so painful, in fact, that I felt tempted to step in front of a moving car, just to end it all. It’s scary how the prospect of death can seem so alluring when you are in distress. But in that brief moment, it felt like relief.
At pretty much the exact moment, though, I thought of my son waiting at home. And I knew there was no way I was putting him through that kind of experience. So, I kept my feet firmly planted on the curb. He had no idea that’s what he was doing, but in that moment, he saved my life. There was nothing he needed to do. All he had to do was to exist.
I think there’s a good chance that you’ve helped someone in your life in a similar manner. In moments too raw to be spoken of, in moments you were not even next to each other, just the mere thought of you may have changed the trajectory of someone else’s life. And you will probably change many more lives as you continue living out the rest of yours. It might not seem obvious to you, but your life if worth hanging on to. I hope you can see that.