I got a new job! Monday I will leave the office I’ve worked in for the past 19 months and move to a new area. I’m very excited!
One of the traditions we have where I work is that whenever someone leaves an area, there is a going-away luncheon. Special tokens signifying the area you are leaving (usually a photo in a frame that everyone signs) and other gifts are presented, and then the person who is leaving makes a speech.
The people in this office are very special to me. We’ve worked through some really stressful situations together, and they have become like family. I really wanted to leave them with a special word of encouragement, and to include a token of my appreciation for them as well.
The more I thought about what I wanted to say to my work family, the more the vision that I had evolved. Why not, I thought, come up with something that will be even more far-reaching? So, I met up with graphic designer, Victoria Hawkins, and shared my thoughts. Victoria is an amazing artist, and an even better human. She listens with her heart to what my heart is saying.
The results of that conversation are what I call “Difference Cards.” The cards are small, only 2”x2”, so they are easy to hand to someone who needs to know that they matter- that they have made a difference in your life. This could be a friend, a family member, a co-worker, or even a complete stranger you run into. The cards are not meant to be kept, but to be passed on to someone else.
We are often so quick to complain about others, to express our impatience and frustration with people. We don’t stop often enough and take the time to truly appreciate one another, and the failure to do so impacts each other on a soul level. But, when we do stop and sincerely share our gratitude for another person’s existence, well that also impacts each other on a soul level. It flips the script of this world of negativity into one of grace and gratitude.
That grace, that gratitude, is what will make a difference in lives, and what will make a difference in the world. Do I believe that this 2”x2” square of paper can truly change the world? I most certainly do. Not if you keep them on your desk, or the bottom of your purse, or in the console of your car. But when you reach out your hand and give them away they can change one person’s world at a time. That person gives the card to someone else, who then gives it to someone else…who knows how many worlds will be changed by the simple effort of handing one little piece of paper to one person?
This Road Home 