How to leave your mark. That was the subject.
One thought is to be aggressive. I am a person that would probably not be described as aggressive. I may look like a soft, little kitten. Until I am cornered. I will come out fighting. And mess with my kids and I become Scar from Lion King. I will eat your face for lunch. Yeah, that is aggression. But being aggressive also means going after important things. Going after those things with gusto. Protecting those who need help.
Another thought is to have convictions. No matter what disappointments, failures or injustices come your way, let your convictions always be true, always be consistent. That is how to leave your mark.
The last thought is do the work. Our pastor calls it “Hitting the same nail every day, no matter how long it takes.” If we want to leave our mark, it requires sacrifice of time and energy and sleep and perhaps even pride. It is getting up every day and clocking in. Doing the work day in and day out until a goal is achieved. That is what heroes do.
We all want to make a difference, to leave our mark. The overarching idea is that leaving our mark very often requires physical movement; standing up for justice, staying on track with idealism, working that second job. Leaving our mark sounds like a good idea and does involve a degree of mental strength and agility. But the real mark is left when we jump in with both feet, get our hands dirty, carry on with cuts and bruises and push ourselves to true physical limits.
Theodore Roosevelt said: “The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming…who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place will never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
We all want to be warriors. We want dust and sweat and blood on our faces. That is how we leave our mark.
Be aggressive. Have convictions. Do the work. Those three things. They are uniquely individualized. For some, it may mean keeping someone safe. For others it may mean staying true to the course even when others are not. For some it may mean just going in to work with a smile and staying consistent. Those are things warriors do. Warriors who want to leave a mark.
Even soft, little kittens can do that.
