RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events Do You Ever Wonder

if your life makes a difference? Or do you simply exist and carry on with your everyday life? Do you ever wonder if your life has a greater meaning, or have you ever affected someone's life in a significant manner?

the reason I ask is that i'm a caseworker/social worker and I rarely feel i actually impact anyone's life or actually help them in any meaningful way..

My job is so damn depressing sometimes...

Social work IS depressing, bro. I have a cousin who is a Social Worker, and some of the stories she has told me over the years are just plain soul-crushingly sad. But the very fact that you question whether you are making a difference at your job tends to make me think that you actually ARE making a difference. The case workers who have just completely gone numb (not that you can blame them too much--- that job grinds you up and spits you out) are the ones who have stopped making a difference, imho.

As a vegan I know that I make a considerable impact on the environment--- and the lives of 84 "food animals" per year (it is estimated that the average meat-eater is responsible for the deaths of approximately 84 animals per year), of course. Other than that, however, I have few allusions about my overall significance in the grand scheme of things.

I help save animals lives daily. So I probably make up for those 84 he he he. Certainly not the grandest thing anyone's done, but certainly not the least. It's nice to know at the end of the day there's a good reason you smell like wet dog. For every rabbit that's DOA and every puppy that dies overnight, you get cats saved from car accidents and some owner bringing cookies. And, of course, a discount on Frontline.

On the other hand, I just witness my great-aunt (crazy witch) placing her sister in a nursing home and selling everthing she owned -- enough for my great-aunt to buy a new car. I couldn't do a darn thing. I felt so powerless to stop this crime, but I'm not consider close enough kin and the great aunt I am trying to help doesn't even know who I am anymore. I have learned the hard way you can't judge a person by their relatives.

Not to long ago I donated my first gallon of blood (and I didn't even faint lol). I'd like to think I helped save lives.

Shakesphere saw life as a play (well d'uh he is the Bard). "...Struts, and stirs no more" if I remember correctly. We each have our roles, our costumes, and our lines. We play our one act and leave. But the effects we make last throughout the play. Hamlet's father makes only one appearence, and it is safe to assume that one presense (a ghostly one at that) affected the rest of the play.

Good post, Cowgirl. Sorry to hear about your great aunt's mistreatment of her sister, though. Alzeimer's? (sp.?)

the problem with thinking about things like that is that people automatically think they have to know how they made a difference, usually involving some kind of notoriety. I prefer to think that we make small impacts on those around us, every single day. A stray comment or thought or action may influence someone who in turn may influence someone else.

Off the top of my head, I can think of one summer in camp where a kid almost fell off a cliff after he lost his footing and was sliding to the edge of a waterfall. I didn't even see him but instinctavely, i extened my arms which he grabbed a hold of and regained his footing, right at the edge of the cliff. He was so scared grateful and I was almost embarassed from his going on and on about it, at the time. Who knows how his life turned out. And who knows how the lives of everyone I meet and help out and even arrest turn out once I'm out of the picture.

Piggy, you know that you are indeed affecting most everyone that comes into your office, don't you?? This is just some sort of pitty trip, right? I mean, most everyone in western society is motivated by the need for attention. The folks that you get to see are people that don't get much of that anywhere else. I know more than a couple of kids that have moved on and become successful people due to the time a socialworker invested in them.

The sad thing is that most people when they're being bumped around by the system are too ashamed or scared of what's going on to stop and note when someone is genuinely trying to help them. It's not until much later when they've taken your advice to heart, or followed the leads you've provided - and embraced change in thier lives as an independent decision - that the real results of your investment become appearant. So chances are, you won't see the one that 'makes it' and they won't even remember your name...But you didn't get into this for glory, did you?

That said, I know the reality is that for every success case, there are a hundred lost. But you can't help everyone. It's just not possible. The beauty comes from that one, and you can't forget that. I used to work for an outreach program, where most of the kids just came to hang out and play games. They really couldn't care less aboout getting off the streets. There was this one girl though, who over the course of three and a half years, I got to watch climb from being a homeless streetworker who hated herself (and pretty much everyone else, really) to getting a job and an apartment and really flowereing. Last I saw her, she was working towards getting her highschool equivalency and acceptance into university...She was taking over some of the counseling duties at the center when I left. I guess I was lucky, in that I was allowed to witness that, but I know from keeping in touch with folks back home that she was by no means unique.

So yeah, this ends my little speach. Piggy, just try not to forget why you are where you are. I mean, no one changes for you, they never will. The real change comes when something you've said or done triggers later on. Just remeber that for all the fun the rest of the population has tearing society apart at the seams, it takes people like you to keep folks from falling through the holes. If in your entire career, one person lets themselves be helped or re-directed, then you've met your quota.

Smile damnit!

Klinton: Cool post. Very insightful, bro.


Cowgirl: My grandmother (my mom's mother) had Alzheimer's. It's very hard for everyone involved, it really is. Such a horrible disease.

Yeah, good post klinton....thanks.......

My life has made a difference, not always in a positive way.

I've caused at least two heart attacks through rough and tumble litigation, and one of my clients killed himself when things fell apart for him, something which I was helpless to prevent.

On the other hand, I've helped out a lot of people, too. I've stopped sleepless nights and the development of ulcers. I've foiled sneakiness and outright theft.

Perhaps the question is better phrased, "do you make a significant difference?" At the end of the day, its not like everyone gets to be Alexander the Great. I think so long as you enjoy your little patch of life then it doesn't matter if you make a significant difference in the scheme of things.