“I believe that everyone can be happy. I dream that nobody harmed anybody. I try to make the world a better place. I hope I am making a difference.” Tyler Hallsey
For many of us it seems that we are a very small fish in a very, very, big and unforgiving pond. Can one person in a vast ocean of people really make a difference? Can one person in a vast ocean of people really make the world a better place?
Perhaps, like Tyler, we HOPE we are making a difference, but we don’t fully understand if our efforts are strong enough to make it beyond our small corner of the pond. Do I wonder if Tyler made a difference? No. Do I wonder if Tyler made the world a better place? No, absolutely no, I know without pause and without question that he did indeed make the world a better place, but oh how he must have felt like a very small fish in a very, very, big and unforgiving pond. Yet, “I try and make the world a better place. I hope I am making a difference.” I still marvel at those words written by a terminally ill 13-year-old boy.
In the words he wrote the only question left unanswered to himself was whether or not his efforts were strong enough to make it beyond his small corner of the pond. What was never in question was his desire and effort to make the world a better place. That can never be in question.
For any of us I would argue the world is a better place due to the effort made regardless of the outcome. Even in the very smallest corner of the pond it is impossible to move, impossible to try and make the world a better place, without causing even the slightest ripple even if we don’t believe the ripple will expand the entire distance of the pond.
Ultimately, does the distance the ripple travels matter? What if our small corner of the pond was the only place our impact was felt? What if the only part of your pond that was changed was inside yourself? Isn’t the world a better place just because you are a better version of yourself when you try? That’s the lesson, isn’t it? By virtue of trying the world has no choice but to be better.
Cherish every moment.
Tyler’s Dad Whatever It Takes