Dear Members,
A famous quote attributed to Mother Teresa says the following:
“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”
In reflecting upon this quote, I wonder: how many of us reflect regularly on the capacity we have to contribute positively to our local communities?
Perhaps, many of us had a dream to be in the careers we chose so that we could serve our communities, serve our friends and family, and improve the quality of life of those in need.
In the regularity of life, day after day, as we rely upon our calendars and technology to guide us, perhaps we can also schedule into our calendars moments of reflection upon the greater purpose of why we do what we do. Have we simply gotten into a cycle of the work we do, or are our actions preceded with intention, with purpose, and with motivation to change the world around us for the better?
As we look in our local communities, we have an aspiring young generation in need of mentorship and advice from those who have chosen to live their lives with purpose and intention, who can prepare our youth to be the leaders of tomorrow. Perhaps our time and service can be offered to such youth, who we can serve by offering guidance and being positive role models. Other opportunities to contribute our services may be to those members of the community who do not have resources to support themselves, and could benefit from our time and knowledge to help them become independent contributing members of society.
It is possible that it is this very notion of service that leads us to spend our free hours doing pro-bono work if we are in private practice, or to work in careers of public service, with the hope and dream that the drop of difference we can offer with our services, is what, in the end, makes the ocean complete.
Best wishes,
Warda Aziz Ali
President – Osceola County Bar Association