Sunday Night With John: The Ledger Is In The Black

If you spend any part of your life in the human services field, you might be like me and wonder if you have had the impact you set out to make. Unlike other businesses there isn’t a ledger that records withdrawals and deposit, which means I can’t find out if I’m in the “black” or  ”red” when it comes to my life’s work. “Am I making a difference?” Is a thought I often ponder.  Last Sunday I wrote a blog about my favorite supervisor ever, Theresa Jones. I did not predict the great reaction it received not just from you, my readers, but from the clients Theresa and our team served.

As I woke up on Monday morning and checked the usual Monday morning emails, I was pleased to find lots of Facebook and blog notifications filling up my inbox. I opened up my Facebook and started reading directly from clients and past co-workers. They took the time to write a note sharing memories of Theresa and the program we ran. One of the comments read, “I miss Theresa!” Another talked about how they wouldn’t be where they are in life without our care and direction. An employee remarked that they miss that team so much. I decided that all my time pondering about making a difference was mute. Later that week my phone rang and it was a Theresa.  She thanked me for the blog and then we spent the next twenty minutes talking about all the past clients commenting and how it was great to know we interacted with them in a way that still impacts them all these years later.

We only get so many days to live our lives. We can always switch to a different job to make more money, we can always find new friends, and we can always move to a new locale. The only thing we can’t do is create more time. Those five years with Theresa and all the great people that made up our program is etched in our history. I can’t go back and do those five years differently and I don’t get to do it all over again, even though I wish I could.  The reaction I received from Theresa’s blog was more than enough to show me that part of my life truly impacted others.

Maybe I wrote this blog for you to realize just how important it is to spend our time wisely. To not waste too many days, and to realize that how we spend our time matters more than anything else we do. Or maybe I wrote this blog today for two years from now when I’m struggling with the question, “Am I making a difference?” I can come back and read all the comments from the Theresa blog and reread this blog. I will realize that I have spent my time in the pursuit of caring for others and that noble cause has left me an emotionally rich man, well in the black.