The Gift of Impact

The purpose of all life is impact -- @talivicky on threads.

A Modern Wisdom interview with Jessica Baum has been on for about an hour by the time I get the idea to jot this down. Her emphasis on the importance of connection keeps reminding me of the thread I posted earlier this week.

The purpose of all life is impact.

Earlier today I shared another thread that read, "Pour into people and you'll never go wrong." Inspired by a coaching webinar I was listening to by Mindvalley.

A friend then commented that as long as you have no expectations because the disappointment can be significant.

Somewhat true. I understood where she was coming from.

I've felt the aches of disappointment all too well too. However, the two threads I shared were from a person whose intention was simply to serve and not only be served.

Jessica Baum said something that drove me deeper into my understanding. She said, "Wounding happens in relationships, healing happens in relationships, we need community to heal, we need mirrors to heal."

So let's break down how and why impact is a gift.

>What lasts is how you make someone feel.

Oprah once shared a moment she was so excited about her school in South Africa imagining that it would be her greatest legacy. Maya Angelou would then correct her to tell her that she had no idea.

"Because your legacy will be every life you've touched." From the David Rubenstein show interview with Oprah.

It has been said again that we may not remember what others do for us but we never forget how they made us feel.

You know an impact by how you feel about a deed. What the body registers is the emotional signature.

>At the end of the day, we are all trying to serve both ourselves and others

I've struggled with the purpose of life for a long while. Yet time and again I've come around to realize that all I want to know is that I matter. To say it differently, the touch of my essence matters.

How else can we touch anything without extending our hands? Extending our service?

Adlerian Psychology says that instead of praising a child, one needs to thank them. This gives them a sense of contribution. (From the book The Courage to be Happy by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga).

Contribution is what joins us in communities. The very foundation of community is the self. That's why service, contribution, and impact start at an individual level. Mind you, every effort is an attempt to serve.

> Connection is the medicine to depression

To gain an extensive understanding I'd recommend the book Lost Connections by Johann Hari.

Jessica Baum emphasizes on the same concept on the Modern Wisdom podcast with Chris Williamson.

"Wounding happens in relationships, healing happens in relationships, we need community to heal, we need mirrors to heal."

The social root of depression is lost connection. Healthy communities i.e. people intentionally and mindfully impacting each other, go a long way in healing mental health disconnections.

> You can only experience yourself through impact.

Impact = feedback

This one extends to inanimate objects as well. You can only tell the significance of an object by first, the space it occupies and second, the service it renders by its occupation.

A wall is a wall because of the space it defines with its presence. So are you. Your presence is impact in itself. However, you can extend that impact by the service you offer. It doesn't matter how small it may seem.

Life is only as meaningful as the impact you leave on others after you are gone.

PS. The impact doesn't have to be extravagant. Small impacts also ripple out.

In Chris Williamson's words, I'd ask, "Is it more heroic for you to just care about you for the rest of your life?"

The intention of this post was not to convince you that everything comes down to impact. However, I hope it got you thinking of your impact, no matter how small it may seem, both positive and negative.

Does this resonate? Let me know in the comments below. Cheers!

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