It's important to remember that each one of us holds the power to impact massive change throughout the world. That statement is not an empty platitude. It does not come from some mystical energy or massive harnessing of willpower. It simply comes from the fact that our actions always cause a result. Even if that result if seemingly small, that result can cause a new action, with a new result . . . and so on and so forth. Any one action can always start a karmic chain reaction that can gain in intensity and work for benefit or harm. Here's an example of how that can happen . . .
A few years ago, my family and I were in vacation in Southern California. We had one day where we needed something to do so we looked online and discovered that we were close to the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach and they welcomed visitors any time. We decided to take a stop by and learn about the center.
The center rescues, rehabilitates and releases injured/sick marine mammals (mostly seals and sea lions). The volunteers of the center are often hand-feeding the animals back to health through feeding tubes yet too much interaction will cause them to become "humanized" so it's a delicate balance. Ideally, their goal is to return them to the wild and to their natural habitats. But once they are too accustomed to food from humans they can not be put back in the wild as they will not hunt for their own food properly . . . in these cases they must be placed in a zoo or aquarium. The center helps hundreds of animals per year and numbers have increased dramatically in recent years due to some environmental issues in the area.
The point for us here though is the story of how the center got started. About 51 years ago, there was a lifeguard on duty at Newport Beach when a five year old girl came up to him saying that a seal was on the beach. She said that something was wrong with the seal and it needed help. The lifeguard told the little girl that he was sorry but he was there to help people and he could not really do anything to help animals. The little girl said to him "but your shirt says you 'save lives'. It doesn't say 'people'!" The life guard decided that she was right and that every life is important. Therefore, he decided to try to help the animal. He didn't know what he was doing but he did his best and got a hold of some local veterinarians. Working together they were able to help the seal. With his eyes and heart now opened he started doing this more and more as it was not unusual for him to find these animals in need. As more people saw what he was doing more people wanted to help. He began to grow a group of volunteers and veterinarians dedicated to helping these creatures and relieving their suffering. Eventually, the city of Laguna Beach donated a building for the group to work out of (the same building we visited) and the group continued to grow to what we see today . . . rescuing and rehabilitating hundreds of animals per year.
But everything sprang from the action of the little girl just having one simple thought and action - that of trying to help another living being not suffer. That put in motion a chain of events that ended up helping thousands and thousands of animals as well as all of the humans whose lives were improved by being involved as well. That little girl did not intend on starting a movement and an organization . . . all she wanted to do was the good that was right in front of her.
"Do the good that's in front of you, even if it feels very small." ~Sharon Salzberg
You just never know the power that your actions could end up having. Even if you never see the ramifications of them they may reverberate beyond what you could imagine. Therefore, it is important to always focus on doing what you can do rather than what seems beyond you. Sharon Salzberg phrased it perfectly: "Do the good that's in front of you, even if it feels very small."
For more information about the Pacific Marine Mammal Center please visit their website: www.pacificmmc.org . Donations can be made to the center by visiting this link .
Comments