I've just realized....

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  • marvin02

    Don't Panic
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    Jun 20, 2019
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    I've really contributed nothing significant....

    Significant being earth shattering stuff.

    That is all.
    This is an easy conclusion to come to. But you can never really know your impact on the world.

    Our actions in life result in ripples, just like a stone tossed in the water. We move on and don't know the true impact of our actions and words.

    Is an earth shattering contribution necessary? If so, most of us are failures.

    I believe that our lives are more like water slowly eroding stone than lightning striking down a tree. Or like a seed growing slowly.
     

    tcecil88

    Master
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    Nov 18, 2013
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    @ the corner of IN, KY & OH.
    I've often thought the same thing. I have toiled on helicopters for 30+ years and am still turning wrenches. I probably will be at least 10 more years. Never been an instructor other than OJT training some Saudis back when I was contracting. I've never done QA work either. Nothing special about me, just a wrench turner for life.
    I don't think I will ever do anything that will affect the world in a huge way, but I know the Pilots, Nurses, Doctors & most importantly the patients that fly on my helicopters appreciate the work I do and that is enough.
    Then I see my kids, whom are 21 and 19 whom both work full time and the 21 year old is in college to be a teacher as well. They both started working when they were 16, both have their Lifetime LTCH's and both proudly wear the Stars and Stripes almost daily. Neither has ever been in ant real trouble, do drugs or any of that crap.
    Looking back on that stuff, maybe I did do some good in my life.
     

    BigRed

    Banned More Than You
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    7   0   0
    Dec 29, 2017
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    1,000 yards out
    This is an easy conclusion to come to. But you can never really know your impact on the world.

    Our actions in life result in ripples, just like a stone tossed in the water. We move on and don't know the true impact of our actions and words.

    Is an earth shattering contribution necessary? If so, most of us are failures.

    I believe that our lives are more like water slowly eroding stone than lightning striking down a tree. Or like a seed growing slowly.

    Truth.

    Short sharing moment...

    Better half and I were invited to a wedding last weekend. Oldest daughter of backyard neighbors from many moons ago.

    Mother of the bride was walking down the isle and "lost her composure" and started crying....not uncommon when your oldest daughter is getting married.

    She was talking to my wife and I afterwards. She said she was holding it together until she saw me and started to remember all the little things from back when....then started talking about the impact I had on her daughter as she was growing up.....things I never even knew.

    I do not say this in a boastful manner... it was VERY humbling.

    I say it only because it was a reminder that folks make a big impact on others when they may not even know it.

    I was with a buddy this morning....we are in the same line of work. He has been much more "successful" than I have been with it and was talking about some of his recent success.

    For a brief moment, I felt a tinge of envy.....and then remebered what the bride's mom told me of.

    I suspect her message was not a coincidence....I was given a reminder when it was needed.

    It's tough to recognize it; particularly if ine compares one's self to others....but the impact one person makes goes far amd long.
     

    Basher

    Expert
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    16   0   0
    May 3, 2022
    1,148
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    Lafayette
    I've often thought the same thing. I have toiled on helicopters for 30+ years and am still turning wrenches. I probably will be at least 10 more years. Never been an instructor other than OJT training some Saudis back when I was contracting. I've never done QA work either. Nothing special about me, just a wrench turner for life.
    I don't think I will ever do anything that will affect the world in a huge way, but I know the Pilots, Nurses, Doctors & most importantly the patients that fly on my helicopters appreciate the work I do and that is enough.
    Then I see my kids, whom are 21 and 19 whom both work full time and the 21 year old is in college to be a teacher as well. They both started working when they were 16, both have their Lifetime LTCH's and both proudly wear the Stars and Stripes almost daily. Neither has ever been in ant real trouble, do drugs or any of that crap.
    Looking back on that stuff, maybe I did do some good in my life.

    OP, take this post as an example. I’m a heli pilot, and I directly benefit from the hard work of A&Ps like TCecil here. Without honest, hard work like his, the people who fly in those helis could die on the next flight. Pride in your work and what you do, and how the things you do affect the lives of those you interact with, are what it boils down to.

    It can feel like an odd, endless cycle. “I do X, so it can help so-and-so do Y. And they do Y so it can help something-or-other do Z,” etc. Feels pointless on the surface sometimes, sure. But I can assure you it’s not, so long as you’re helping those around you to be better people.

    And yes, family ABSOLUTELY counts here. Probably more than anything else!
     

    smokingman

    Grandmaster
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    2   0   0
    Nov 11, 2008
    9,273
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    Indiana
    Every positive interaction you have had with another human being is significant.
    Every bit of knowledge you have passed onto someone else is significant.
    Every time you share love with a person is significant.
    Every action in your life to build,create,make,grow,or imagine is significant.
    Every life you saved (knowingly or unknowingly) was significant.
    Every sacrifice you made to benefit someone else was significant.
    Every act of kindness is significant.

    One man first set foot on the moon. It was a significant contribution/event in his life,and for our species. It took over 400,000 others to imagine,create,make,share knowledge,positively interact,love,and dream it could be done. Some even gave their lives for him to take that step(even deaths on a factory floor). Where any of those 400,000 lives as significant as his? I know they were,because without them what he did was impossible.

    Point being. Unless everything you have done in life was just for yourself,without a single consideration for for others,it was a significant life.

    About kindness. It am talking about real kindness,empathy,heart felt,and honest caring. Such a simple thing,but it can change an entire life of a person/group of people(even save it). If you have had even one such moment it your life,it was significant.


    I have said it before,but maybe someone needs to hear it.

    Be well,be safe,you are loved(deal with that message,accept it,then share it...someone needs to hear it).
     
    Last edited:

    smokingman

    Grandmaster
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    2   0   0
    Nov 11, 2008
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    Another perspective.
    Just because your impact was not recognized does not mean it did not happen.

    Take the man who stood in front of and stopped an entire line of tanks at Tiananmen Square.
    His impact was recognized. What about the driver of the tank that stopped? Did his choice make possible the impact of the man standing? Did his commander tell him to stop(or keep going?),we will never know,but someone other than that man made the choice to stop the tank,and the entire line,because of a single man.

    Point being the man would have been likely dead and had little to no impact on his own.

    It is just as or more important to be the guy who actually stopped the tank.

    ...or the guy who helped a total stranger in their time of need.

    Where did I get this perspective from? My 6 month journey hiking the AT,and something called "Trail Angels" and of course other hikers. Without them I would have never finished the 2192 mile hike(length in 2019),and I know it and I appreciate every single person who helped me on that journey. It changed my life and restored my faith in human nature and I learned the true power a stranger showing kindness has. So now I do what I can to try and pass that kindness onto others. Sappy? Maybe,but it is still the truth.
     

    churchmouse

    I still care....Really
    Emeritus
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    187   0   0
    Dec 7, 2011
    191,809
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    Speedway area
    I've often thought the same thing. I have toiled on helicopters for 30+ years and am still turning wrenches. I probably will be at least 10 more years. Never been an instructor other than OJT training some Saudis back when I was contracting. I've never done QA work either. Nothing special about me, just a wrench turner for life.
    I don't think I will ever do anything that will affect the world in a huge way, but I know the Pilots, Nurses, Doctors & most importantly the patients that fly on my helicopters appreciate the work I do and that is enough.
    Then I see my kids, whom are 21 and 19 whom both work full time and the 21 year old is in college to be a teacher as well. They both started working when they were 16, both have their Lifetime LTCH's and both proudly wear the Stars and Stripes almost daily. Neither has ever been in ant real trouble, do drugs or any of that crap.
    Looking back on that stuff, maybe I did do some good in my life.
    Yes sir. Look no further.
     

    spencer rifle

    Grandmaster
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    66   0   0
    Apr 15, 2011
    6,544
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    Scrounging brass
    This body is not my immortality. Passing on my genes doesn't give me that. Though we have four wonderful children, they didn't get to pick their genes, and neither did I. We just play the hand we're dealt, genetically.
    My accomplishments are not my immortality. I'm just a very small guy in the scheme of things. Millions (or even billions) of better people than I have come and gone and left no trace. Some had their moment of courage and fortitude and did unbelievable things, but no one survived to tell their story. They are gone and forgotten, but I see no shame or loss in joining them.
    My immortality is not my things, for they will all be someone else's things soon enough. Eventually the thing and it's source will be forgotten. The winds of the world will sweep all away in time - genes, accomplishments, things.
    If I have immortality at all, it must come from some other source. My efforts cannot accomplish it. A credible source, one that I can have faith in. One who said that, despite my unworthiness and failures, I am invited to join Him as we watch the universe unfold together, with ever-more-amazing surprises and wonders. More than I could ask or hope for. I only need to believe the Inviter is who He said He is and accept the invitation. Worm food I might be, but that is not all that I am.
     
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