“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.”
This quote is by Mother Teresa. Since I began writing my blog several years ago, I have chosen other quotes by her a number of times as a basis for my posts. There’s a kind of “quiet strength” in the way she approached life that is reflected in her words, a quiet strength that is meaningful to me.
Mother Teresa often spoke and wrote about the fact that each person’s efforts have value. That is the case once again in her words “do it alone, person to person.” Every time we treat another person with dignity, kindness, and empathy, we make that person’s life better as an individual, and in addition we increase that which is positive in our world. And by treating each other in this way, we are also doing one of the things we were created to do.
Although each act of caring matters in itself, there is also the cumulative effect of such person-to-person interactions. Mother Teresa refers to this in some of her other quotes too. An example is when she says “the ocean would be less because of that missing drop” where she uses the metaphor of each act of kindness as being a drop of water. Just as every drop of water makes up the huge ocean, every positive word and action add to that which has value in our world.
Once again, I’m reminded of how essential it is to grow in consciousness so that we become more and more able to follow inner direction. For inner direction guides us in our day-to-day words and actions. Through its guidance, we are led to those things we were created to do.
So heed Mother Teresa’s words: Don’t wait for others; do it alone, person to person.