What is the point? What did our ancestors think about? What will my descendants think about me? Will my descendants think about me? What if I don’t have any descendants? Will I leave anything behind that anyone will care about? How will I make my mark on the world? Who, what, when, where, why? Go back far enough, and there are ancestors who we will never even know their name. We know they existed, but not who, or where, or when.

You have left your mark on the world more than you realize, though, in countless ways, that you may not even have noticed at the time, but made a difference in someone’s life. It may be a descendant, a neighbor, friend, even a stranger. It could be something as little as giving a nice restaurant server a big tip, which meant she could now afford to get a cake for her son’s birthday, and you’ll never know it but it made a difference to her, and to her son. Or maybe something bigger, like helping an elderly neighbor by mowing her lawn every week after her husband died. Or volunteering for your church, animal shelter, food bank, whatever. You have touched many, many lives. People may not remember your name, or even know your name, but you changed their life, if even a little bit.

Our ancestors did the same, and we will most likely never know how. But the world is a better place because they, and you, have been a part of it.