I Can Do Something

I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do. Helen Keller

Our family just returned from our fifth trip to Antigua, Guatemala. We first went in February 2010 with the amazing organization From Houses to Homes (FHTH) to build a house for a poor Mayan family up in the Guatemalan highlands. The trip inspired us so much that we have returned again and again, building a second house, "adopting" our families, becoming godparents to the son of one of the Guatemalan workers on our build crew and "adopting" his family, and creating a sister school program between our youngest daughter's school and a school sponsored by FHTH.

Like most kinds of volunteer work, these trips enrich us beyond anything we can possibly give. We come home with a real sense of how blessed our lives are. We have the time for things like yoga in a beautiful studio. We have disposable income for so many things beyond the bare necessities. We have running water at the twist of the wrist -- and hot water to boot -- and it's drinkable! Truly, we are leading magical lives. So why do most of us experience dissatisfaction and frustration with our lives on a daily basis? Take me for example. For the last few months, I have been feeling dissatisfied with my house because it doesn't have a powder room on the first floor. Yes, we have 3 full bathrooms, but sometimes, it's just so annoying to have to go up or down a flight of stairs to pee ... So I have spent a lot of time thinking about how and where we can possibly put a powder room on the first level ... This visit to Guatemala, where our families have no bathrooms at all, but simply holes in the ground surrounded by dried cornstalk "walls" with a door made out of a torn piece of fabric, was just what I needed to knock some sense into me.

This is what witnessing or experiencing suffering does - it knocks sense into us. Whether it's the plane suddenly dropping, or losing a loved one before his or her time, or experiencing a grave illness ourselves, or getting out of our normal lives and seeing how so many others live, we NEED these experiences to make us appreciate all that we have and shift our perspectives. This doesn't mean that we become complacent and give up our goals, but it means that we understand that achieving them will not bring us lasting happiness. The pleasure we get from them is not permanent. Let's face it, we'll just find something else to want. So we have to GIVE UP THE IDEA that the perfect body, a different job, the right partner, the newest iPhone, A POWDER ROOM ON THE FIRST FLOOR, will bring us happiness.

So what will give us lasting happiness? Taking care of others. MAKING OTHERS HAPPY.

The poverty in Guatemala is overwhelming -- a 69% illiteracy rate, nearly two million indigenous families living in rickety cornstalk shacks lined with plastic garbage bags to keep out the elements, high infant mortality and short life spans. Obviously, I am not going to eliminate it with my efforts, but that doesn't mean that I should stop trying. Back to the quote up top from Helen Keller -- Just because I can't do everything, I won't stop trying to do what I can do. And the thing is, while I am doing something for others that really and meaningfully improves their lives, I am feeling better about my life. I am increasing my happiness by increasing my compassion for others. I am realizing my own blessings by trying to give to other people.

So here's my question -- what is the something that YOU can do? And how will it make you happier with what you have already? Let's inspire each other with all the good things we do in the world and how these acts have changed our lives and the lives of others.