I don’t often share memes. Many contain misinformation or attribute words to celebrities who never said them. But once in a while, one rings true. Like this one:
AT THE TENDER AGE OF FIVE,
A BEAR TOLD ME THAT I AM THE ONLY PERSON
WHO CAN PREVENT FOREST FIRES.
WHY I WAS CHOSEN, I’LL NEVER KNOW.
I distinctly remember Smokey Bear leaning on his shovel, wearing jeans and a Ranger hat in the midst of a smoldering forest. He pointed directly at me through the television and said, “Only YOU can prevent forest fires.”
And I believed him.
It was the beginning of a series of starring roles that I came to see as my future — and mine alone. A future where I was the hero.
By the time I entered junior high, I had given up my aspirations to be a famous entertainer, a professional football player, and the President of the United States. (The first two were abandoned because of my lack of talent and athletic ability. The last was due to my certainty that I could never sit through an entire political convention.)
Despite my misunderstanding of Smokey Bear’s message, I did eventually learn it was never up to me alone to save the forests. I just needed to do my part.
Sometimes your part looks heroic. More often, it seems pretty ordinary. But from the ordinary, our combined efforts become extraordinary.
I am only one.
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything.
But still I can do something.
And because I cannot do everything
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.
—Edward Everett Hale
Find that something you can do. Put it next to someone else’s something. The world is always better when we pursue good together.
Good Stuff, Joey. Great illustration.
Great thought. Have a blessed day.