Being Significant

Okay, so I don't care for my day job. I'm not sure of the numbers, but I'm betting there are not many who do. That's why they call it a JOB, right? If it were something we enjoyed all of the time, we would pay them and it'd be called Disney Land (or some variation thereof). I'm not whining. I've got a job. I have insurance (with a wife and a fairly new daughter, that's pretty important), but I have no feeling of 'significance' where I am. Now, on the weekends, I'm an EMT, and there is that feeling of significance there. A feeling that you matter. That you've helped someone or changed a life. (not always, often times we are just a glorified 'taxi' as well, mind you.) If I could do this full time I would, but the money isn't there. Oh, if I were to go back to school and get my Paramedic License it would be more feasible; but the catch is, I can't go back to school because I'm too busy working my day job in order to survive. Therein lies the rub, right?

So, on my early commute this Monday morning to my day job, i am considering the above. I want to live a life of significance. It's not that I want to be rich or famous (not that I would kick either out of bed), but just to simply matter. So, as I'm quietly contemplating this, I get the small voice that whispers in my mental ear, "BE significant; wherever you are." This doesn't come in some booming voice from above. Most really big truths don't though; they come in that little whisper that rises like smoke from a hot ash and then disappears. I know this is profound to me, because of the simplicity of it, and the Small Voice from whence it came. Allow me to explain.

I currently live in a smallish town. It's not tiny; there is more than one stop light, multiple fast food joints, and more than one place to buy your groceries. It's not however, big enough for a Wally World, or for a taxi company, or a local TV news channel. This is not the town I grew up in, but it is where my grandparents lived the majority of their lives before they passed. My grandparents. a lovely couple. (aren't they always?) Bob and Veda. Bob was tall and funny; sort of "Jimmy Stewart-ish". Veda was short in stature, and quirky with a contagious laugh. These two lived a humble life. They lived in a small house on a small road in town. Nothing fancy mind you. My grandfather was a machine shop guy, and my grandmother was a waitress, although I only know that by the stories, as I never saw her work outside of the home. By the time I was around she had long since stop waiting tables. My grandparents taught kids in Sunday School. They drove the church bus, they served their God, and they served their fellow man. They have both been gone for quite some time now; and I don't think they ever realized when they were alive how many people's lives they touched. More than once in this small town, somehow it will get mentioned that I am the grandson to Bob and Veda. whether it be downtown in a shop or out and about getting a cup of coffee. The responses are always the same. "You're related to Bob and Veda?!" someone will ask with excitement and awe in their voice, "They were the most amazing people and they had such a profound impact in my life!" Yes, my grandparents were SIGNIFICANT; and I don't think they ever even knew it. They gave of themselves. Their time, their energy, their lives. I'm sure if they'd have had it, they would have given their money too, that's just how they were. In this small midwestern town, they are as close to famous as one can get. They made an impact on their small world.

I suppose my own self-lesson here is that one CAN be significant wherever they are. It isn't about doing it big, it's about doing it much. You don't need a stage at a major venue. Your life is your venue. All of those around you are your audience. Like it or not, it is what it is. You can have an impact on the lives you touch every day, the question is whether you want to or not. I want to. I want to have significance. I'm going to try to make a difference in my life. In my job that I go to every day where I spent too much of my time. In my home, with my family. With my friends near or far. I want to "Be Significant" wherever I am. This isn't a new years resolution. Resolutions are so difficult for me to manage. I'd like to think this can be something life changing, if for no one else but myself; and perhaps in turn, for those who's lives touch mine in the simplest of ways.