You Matter!

Steve Whytman

The old man stooped down, picked up the drying starfish and tossed it into the ocean. His young granddaughter looked questioningly at him.

“Why are you even bothering?” she asked gazing at the hundreds of starfish the Maine storm that blew through the night before had left stranded. “Why does it matter?”

The old man knew she would ask. Again he stooped down to rescue another. He wanted her to understand the value of life.

Gently stroking her golden hair his heart swelled with love. She possessed a rare intelligence and he wanted her to be as sensitive as she was smart. Yet once again he picked up a beautifully colored starfish and carefully tossed it into the breaking waves.

“It may not make much of a dent in all of these starfish,” he softly explained. “But to that one it matters more than anything.”

Like the starfish, to you your life matters. But that is only scratching the surface of how you matter and how much you matter. The world, your generation, and the people you touch during the course of your life need you to understand how significant you are. You literally have the power to change the world. Your success is vital to not only your world but to the future of the world itself.

Let me explain:

“I’m so glad you came today!” Jennifer exclaimed with feeling. My sister and niece had talked me into a hair transformation and for me it was pretty radical. But I was game.

Jennifer was a free spirited hairstylist. She had several pictures of herself with various outlandish hairstyles and colors posted at her station. We just had a powerful conversation about my soon to be released book “Blueprint for a Great Big Life” and it had lifted her obviously down spirit. She was feeling her life was at a dead-end.

“So tell me, what is your dream?” I wanted to make sure I had a chance to share it with her in some way before we were finished. Sometimes just sharing your dream with someone helps to make it more real and I wanted her to know whatever she dreamed was within her grasp.

You see I’m a dreamsharer.

I take responsibility to help people accomplish their dreams; sometimes in very small ways with a brief conversation, sometimes it’s a lifelong walk with someone. This was probably the only time I would see Jennifer and I wanted to participate in her dream being fulfilled.

“I want to open my own beauty salon.” She stated hesitantly.

“Tell me about it.” I urged.

She lit up at that and began sharing her dream. Dreams have a way of making us come alive like few things can. In dreams we feel that we matter.

“So what is your next step?” I asked. Dreams are fulfilled one step at a time and I wanted to see if she could see the next step.

“I need to buy some equipment but I need a raise for that.” That gave me an idea.

When I got home I went online and emailed the corporate headquarters of the salon she worked for and told them what a great experience I had with one of their stylist. I asked them if they could let her boss know how much I appreciated her efforts. They actually emailed me back notifying me that not only would they let her boss know but would put my comments and her name in their corporate newsletter.

A couple of weeks later I was walking by the salon and she came running out.

“You made me look so good!” She exclaimed with heartfelt gratitude.

We never know where the ripple effects will go when we become dreamsharers and take responsibility for participating in the success of other people’s dreams. It is the place where true life is shared.

What if my action was the catalyst that caused her to get a raise and she was able to fulfill her dream? What if that action allowed her to hire a struggling young lady needing a job to provide for her child? That is not beyond the realm of likelihood. What if that job kept her and her child out of poverty? What a different life that child would have. What kind of man or woman would the child become because they did not have to suffer the scars of poverty? Perhaps they would go on and accomplish some great feat that would change the world and I had a part in it. What if because of my choice to be a dreamsharer I touch the lives of a hundred Jennifer’s? What ripple effect would that have (even generations later)?

Do you begin to see how much you matter?

Your success is as vital to me as my own success because if you fail to be your best you to your world, the generations you could have impacted have a different and far darker future.

The saying goes, “Don’t sweat the small stuff…it’s all small stuff.” While I understand the meaning of this saying is to not stress over all the small stuff in life (for which stressing over things is a useless practice), an equally important concept is understanding that everything matters in big things and small. A careless word or action can destroy a marriage, scar a child, lead to a life of crime, and diminish you. When you take care of the small things you take care of most things which lead to stress. Care enough to be your best in all things because you have amazing power to change the destiny of the world! Become a dreamsharer, because you matter more than you’ll ever know.