“A story I want to tell was passed down in my family from my great-grandfather. He was a young captain from Pennsylvania fighting in the Civil War. In preparation for a coming battle, he had requisitioned a beautiful Georgia plantation home as a field hospital. He told the lady of the house to leave before the battle started, but she responded, ‘I am staying. There will be wounded and I can be useful.’ For four days, her land was occupied by her enemy and was turned into a bloody battlefield while she tirelessly did everything she could to ease the suffering of the wounded and dying Union soldiers. Word of her care spread through the troops, and when they were leaving, every man turned and saluted as they passed her home.
“My great-grandfather said that it was the most enduring memory he had of that horrible war, because it reminded him that even in the midst of an incredibly brutal and savage experience, one person's simple kindness could still shine through.”
One of the few things about life that is certain is that it never turns out as you plan. You may set out to be a writer, for example, but then life gets into the act and you must care for your dying mother or your newborn child, and suddenly you find yourself launched in an entirely different direction. That's why, like the Confederate woman, it's best to try to have a flexible attitude toward what does happen and, wherever you find yourself, ask, “How can I be of use here?”
One very simple and effective way to do this is to take a reflective moment each morning to ask that you be of use that day, that all your talents, skills, and influence be utilized for the greatest good.
