Have you ever wondered if you’re really making a difference? Day after day you do everything you can to support those who support your cause. But still some volunteers don’t show up for their scheduled shifts, some remain bigoted, often staff don’t see the value of volunteers, and the executive have cut your budget again. It’s so easy to see the challenges, and the steps forward can seem very tiny.
But, I’d like to tell you a story about someone making a difference.
Many years ago, when I lived in Victoria, BC, a friend kept bugging me to hike with her to the top of Mount Finlayson in nearby Goldstream Park. The view from the top was supposed to be spectacular.
Understand, I’m not a hiker! Not by any stretch of the imagination. However, she nagged and pestered and finally got me to agree. We set a day and time, and on that sunny, warm Saturday morning, I drove to the parking lot at the bottom of the trail to meet her. Only to get a message saying that she’d been called into work and couldn’t come. I know! However, there I was, all psyched up and ready to go, so I thought I might as well do it and then I could get her off my back. So off I went.
Did I mention that I’m not a hiker?
About twenty minutes up the trail, I realised that I had made a really stupid decision. This was hard! Hiker or not, though, I do have my pride and not far ahead of me was a heavy-set woman in a red shirt who was huffing and puffing even more than I was. I looked at her and thought to myself “When she quits, I’ll quit!”
You can probably figure out what happened. She didn’t quit! She huffed and puffed her way right to the top of the mountain, with me (cursing and swearing) stumbling along behind her. And the view was spectacular.
But that’s not the real story.
After a drink, a snack, and a long rest, I started back down. When I finally reached the parking lot and was unlocking my car, a young woman came up to me and said “Excuse me. I just wanted to say thank you.” I must have looked as confused as I felt, because she went on. “You see, I didn’t want to go on the hike. My boyfriend talked me into it. I was going to quit, but I saw you up ahead of me. You were obviously struggling too, so I decided that when you quit, I’d quit. And I’m so glad you never did, because the view up there is priceless, and I’m so proud of myself for making it all the way. Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you.” Then she turned and walked away.
And I stood there, stunned.
It was only as I was driving home that it struck me. I never thanked the woman in the red shirt. She had no idea that she carried people with her to the top of Mount Finlayson. That her courage and perseverance had given courage and perseverance to two other people. At least two other people, maybe more.
We often never hear about the difference we make in other people’s lives.
This work is hard. Your struggles and efforts as a leader of volunteers may not seem to make much of a change, but I can assure you that they do. What looks to you like a tiny step causes ripples that can lead to a tidal wave of change for people you may never even have met. You are likely never to hear about the volunteer who left an abusive relationship because your encouragement in their role gave them self-confidence. Or the staff member who started a different job and put in policies that they had learned from you. Or any of the hundreds or even thousands of other actions, thoughts or emotions that your work has fostered with the people you deal with, and with the people that they deal with.
You are a powerful force for good in the world.
Even if you don’t see it. Any time you start wondering if what you’re doing is really making a difference, remember the woman in the red shirt. Like her, you have no idea how many people you are carrying to the top of a mountain. It’s no wonder you feel tired all the time!
Oh, and in case you were curious, I could hardly walk for a week after that climb, and I never did it again. But it was worth it. Keep on making a difference; we need you!
(Photo of Mt. Finlayson by Michal Klajban)
