The Power of One
The words found in the title of this blog piece can easily be confused with the latest Self Help Guide. You could be thinking that I’m going to tell you all about how you need no one and you’re ruled by no one and you know…well, no one! But fear not….today I’ve just been musing over the notion of how much POWER a single act, incident, person or word can truly have.
A couple of weeks ago during what was my 4th WEEK at the Food Bank, I met a new visitor. Many New Yorkers are familiar with this “lil guy” but for the sake of this piece, I’ll call him MICKEY. There I was having a pretty serious conversation with the leadership from my development team and Mr. Mickey scurried onto my office’s floor. ONE glance of this ONE resident of the financial district and ONE CEO became a screaming hyena, inches away from jumping onto a desk. Embarrassing? Yes. Funny to the entire team? I think I can still hear their chuckles. I chalk the entire incident to the fact that I haven’t seen any members of the Mickey clan in 5 years and maybe it appeared bigger than it actually was. Whatever the case, the balance of my day (and my relationship with the building’s maintenance crew) was shaped by the power of that ONE sighting.
In a sea of numbers, ONE is still the most powerful. It is always the beginning and is needed to get to the end. Does that make it powerful? I think so. Its true value goes beyond its numerical weight and rests in its PURE POTENCY. If I had to come up with my Top Ten LIST of the Power of One it would highlight how…
One LOOK can tell every child on the planet when their parent has had enough.- One DECISION to LISTEN can provide all the clarity needed to see people, places and things as they TRULY ARE and not as you assumed.
- One ACT OF CHARITY (such as volunteering or holding a Virtual Food Drive) can change a group’s perception about their place of employment, social circle and etc.
- One ACT of RUDENESS can shut you out of your most coveted social circles with no possibility of a redo!
- One TOOTHLESS smile can make even the hardest heart melt from the pure joy that a child happily shares.
- One SCENE from certain reality shows can make you (hopefully) decide to READ A BOOK!
- One RECITATION of the Girl Scout Oath can be step one in the journey of a future CEO.
- One WHIFF of a comfort food can take you back to times spent with grandparents, favorite cousins, footed PJs and Saturday morning cartoons.
- One GLANCE of the Empire State Building lit ORANGE can make the busiest New Yorker think about the 1.5 Million people who rely on soup kitchens and food pantries.
And most importantly…..
- ONE DOLLAR Can Provide FIVE HEALTHY MEALS to your neighbors who need them the most.
One is powerful. When good people make ONE decision to do ONE positive thing for others it results in the MOST ENVIABLE FORM OF POWER known to man: the power of COMPASSION. Thank you to every friend who’s decided to BE THE ONES who make the GREATEST DIFFERENCE for the neediest among us.
