Inspired by it's a wonderful life

How many of us have ever contemplated the contribution we feel we do or don't make to the world. In the wonderful Christmas tale of George Bailey and Clarence the angel in 'It's a wonderful life' the viewer watches as George Bailey contemplates his contribution, and after losing $8000 from his business, he considers ending it all. Having been rescued from that attempt he then wishes he had never been born. At one time or another we may have all come to a place in our lives and either wished we could just end it all.... or wished we had never existed in the first place.

Recently I have been thinking about gifts. I read an article (that I cannot find right now) about honing the gifts we are given, many of us have read the parable of the talents and how people use their talents for the best and how one person buries his talent and achieves nothing. We all think about learning something new, sometimes instead of improving the talents we already have. I love to listen to people playing music, I have many musically talented friends. I know their talents took practice but I believe that they have been gifted to begin with. I listen and have sometimes envied them for their gift. I have other gifts and have decided to start focussing on those gifts and improving in them. I may still try and learn to cook better and be more creative, but I will also work on improving the things I know I can do and make those a priority.

Anyway, back to George Bailey and a little nod to the wonderful actor James Stewart who bought that character to life...
George is a wonderful man, he cared about his community so much, he, like all of us had dreams and aspirations but due to his father's death his life took a very different turn to the one he'd imagined for himself. He rose to those challenges, faced with a takeover from a powerful man, Henry Potter, who had monopolised George's hometown, Bedford Falls, he used his wedding money to help tide his customers over till a bank crisis had subsided. Years passed, and due to an childhood injury, he couldn't fight in the war (though he did his bit for the homefront) but his younger brother returned to the town a war hero. All these things took their emotional toll and his self confidence took a hit. George Bailey took in a subliminal message that he wasn't essential, that it wouldn't matter if he hadn't been born. He just could not see what his life had bought to others and it took for a wish to be granted, for him to have a glimpse into what would have happened had he not been born. Now I won't ruin the end if you haven't seen it, but would highly recommend it. On that subject I then found an article that I thought tied in perfectly, a wonderful extract from an an author called Stanley Kunitz.

"When you look back on a lifetime
and think of what has been given to
the world by your presence, your
fugitive presence, inevitably you think
of your art, whatever it may be, as
the gift you have made to the world in
acknowledgement of the gift you have
been given, which is the life itself.....
That work is not the expression of the
desire for praise or recognition, or
prizes, but the deepest manifestation
of your gratitude for the gift of life."


I would encourage you to think about your contribution to other people's lives, your contribution to the world. I don't want you to be downhearted or negative and reply 'nothing'. Think about your gifts, I cannot play the piano wonderfully like my friend Isabel, or cook like my friend Helen, I cannot run like my friend Louise but I can take great photographs and I can write a mean story. I want you to focus on what you can do and what you want to improve on in 2010. I also want you to consider the impact you have on others' lives, I have many friends who send me daily encouragement that maybe don't realise when I am feeling downhearted or discouraged.

I think you do far more than you realise.