What is one reason life is worth living?
I learned this lesson when I was 20 when I dropped out of college.
This is part 1 of 4 of my final series called, “Make an Impact.”
That with simply your full attention, being present and curious, you can make someone else feel that their life is worth living.
The first time I realized this, I had just dropped out of college to work with the homeless. Anytime my friends and I saw someone homeless, we would take the time to get to know them.
Being young and broke, we didn’t know much and didn’t have much to give, other than our time.
So that’s what we gave.
We would sit down with them, listen to them, ask about their story, ask about their day, and offer to pray for them. We just wanted to help in whatever way we could.
I’ll never forget what one man said to me, “Thank you for taking the time, most people just ignore us, like we’re invisible. It’s nice to know that some people care.”
I remember thinking about this afterwards. It made me think about all the times I felt alone, felt invisible, wished someone would talk to me, and take the time understand me without judgement.
I just wanted to feel like I mattered to someone. Anyone.
I just didn’t want to feel invisible.
I did not realize I had the power to make someone else feel like they mattered in the way I used to crave.
That gave me plenty reason to continue to “show up” in life the way that I did.
I had wrestled with suicide at one point and in knowing that there’s a chance that my presence, attention, and care could make a difference in someone’s sense of worth, heck, totally worth it.
I received this message in August 2016, about 5 years after my experience with the homeless person:
…you definitely made me feel like somebody important and worth it.
I had spent a year informally mentoring 6 high schoolers who were part of a club’s leadership team. To this day, this is one of the most meaningful messages I have ever received.
I took the time to get to know each of them, but for 5 years, I never knew what impact I had. I never knew if my theory of treating people like they mattered would ever amount to anything significant, definitely not to this extent.
It’s ironic.
For the longest time, I was wanting to feel like I mattered. And then I realized I had the power to make others feel like they mattered, and that became my biggest pursuit.
In searching for a reason to live for myself, I found it by helping others see — by giving my time and attention — that their existence is enough.
One reason why life is worth living is in realizing you have the power to make others feel like their life has worth.
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