Living a significant life means different things to different people. Living a significant life to me, means that you have made a difference in someone else's life. Making this difference was not for your personal benefit, it was simply for the benefit of the other person. I think today people sometimes get to caught up in "How is this going to help me?" that the gesture to help someone else simply becomes a way to make their life better or to make it look better. Living a significant life is when you do something unique to help someone else. We all live different lives, but by making a difference in someone else's life is when you make your life significant. I have a story that portrays a significant life to me. So instead of a quote here is a story!
There once was a boy who lived by the beach and everyday he would go for a walk. On his walk along the beach, he noticed that the waves would wash a bunch of starfish onto the sand. The boy also noticed that if the starfish stayed on the sand, they would die, so he decided to throw as many as he could into the water during his walks. One day as he was throwing the star fish into the water, an old man was walking on the beach. The old man yelled "boy, what are you doing?" The boy ignored him and continued to throw the starfish into the water. The old man got closer and yelled again, "boy, what are you doing? You will never make a difference." The boy continued to ignore the old man. Now the old man grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him towards the long beach and said "look, there are hundreds, thousands of starfish. You will never be able to save them all. Just enjoy the day. You won't be able to make a difference to all the starfish." The boy looked deep into the old man's eyes, then bent down and picked up one last starfish and threw it as far as he could into the water. He said to the old man " I made a difference to that one!"
- Unknown
When I think of someone who has lived a significant life my grandma comes to mind. From the time I was little I only knew of my grandma as the lady who asked me the same question 100 times. As I got to know the life she had lived I began to realize the significance of her life. To me it is pretty amazing to think that my grandma raised 16 children, and all of them grew up to now lead their own significant lives. What amazes me even more is that my grandma did not only raise her own 16 children, she also raised her brothers and sisters. When my grandma was in the 8th grade she had to quit school because her mother had died and she needed to help her one other sister take care of their younger siblings. My grandma's life was not easy by any means, but it was definitely significant. My grandma may not know who I am or even know I exist, but if she were capable I know she would do anything for me or for anyone else in this world.
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