[2023-06-29] The power to make a difference
At IKEA today, I crossed paths with a young boy who was carrying an armful of stuffed kittens. Following right behind him were his mom and dad, who had a few more stuffed kitties in hand (perhaps ones the little boy had dropped from his overflowing arms).
— "Are those all for you?" I asked the little boy.
— "No," he whispered. "I hide them."
Rather sheepishly, his parents filled in the story.
— "He tucks them into bed," the mom said, explaining that her son covers them up in various beds in the showroom.
— "He does it every time we come to IKEA," the dad added. "He just loves doing it."
I thought it was adorable. I don't know whether the staff at IKEA would agree, but it seems like a pretty harmless act of love on the part of the little boy: rescuing some of the kitties from the big bin under the stairs and giving them new, more comfortable places to snuggle up.
It reminded me of the fable of the man who tosses starfish back into the sea. When asked by another person how he could possibly make a difference when the shore is littered with starfish, the man says of the starfish he just threw into the water, "I made a difference for that one."
We all have the power to make a difference in the life of one person, one starfish, one stuffed kitty. We also have the power to see beauty, kindness and innocence in the every day.
