One Person

Many bloggers, I would say, are out to make a difference. For the most part, people don’t start a blog and attempt to hide it from the world. People blog so that their voice can be heard. Blogging is an opportunity to share your ideas, your message, your thoughts with a potentially huge audience.

That being said, we often don’t get that huge audience we’re looking for. With a lot of hard work, our readership grows over time, but not as much as we would like. That’s just how it works.

Before long, we find that our ideas are only being heard by a few. And as much as we appreciate those few, sometimes it’s hard not to wonder if it’s all worth it. Is the effort of putting our thoughts out there for the world to see really worth it if the world isn’t listening?

It’s very easy to get bogged down in this sort of thinking. And as many of you know, my solution to it has always been simple. I tell myself, if the words I say have made a difference to one person, then it’s all worth it. That thinking has helped me to continue blogging, and I have been blessed to ultimately have, I hope, made a difference to many people!

This is something I’ve been saying for a long time, but there was one thing that never occurred to me until today. If I apply this way of thinking to my blog, why don’t I apply it to my everyday life?

If blogging is at times frustrating and depressing, life is even more so! Over the past few years, when I interact with others, I’ve put a lot of effort into making a difference in their day. Sometimes I’m sharing my ideas. Some days I’m trying to be a friend to someone in need. There are times when I just listen. There are times when I try to offer comfort and hope.

And there are times when I wonder if it’s all worth it.

When it feels like no one is listening…

I can put a lot of effort into the lives of those around me, and many times, it feels like I’m not really doing anything. Like no one cares that I care. And if no one cares, what is the point?

And then I’ll have a day like today. When someone cares enough to stop and tell me that I made a difference to them. It’s a beautiful thing. And as I thought it over, I realized something.

We can go through our lives striving to make an impact wherever we go, and get very little response. Most people won’t show appreciation. Very often, it’s hard to tell if they even noticed. But then there will be that one person who takes the time to say thank you.

Thank you for just listening when I needed a friend.

Thank you for reaching out to me when no one else did.

Thank you for encouraging me when life was hard.

And when that one person says “thank you”, that’s all that matters. If, through all my effort, I made a difference in the life of one person, that is a beautiful thing. It makes it all worth it.

Those people will come. It won’t be very often, but the fact that they do come is enough of a reason to keep going.

So today, I would just like to encourage you to keep going. Even when nothing seems to matter, even when you can’t see that you’re making a difference–you are. And even if it’s only one person who is touched by what you do, that one person is enough.

Finally, when people don’t notice, when the gratitude doesn’t come, remember that God sees. And He matters more than anyone.

-christrocks

• audience
• blogging
• Christianity
• difference
• God
• gratitude
• impact
• life
• listening