Small Things, Great Love

There are so many people I could list as my hero: my parents, Abraham Lincoln, Amelia Earhart. These people have influenced my life and motivated to be a greater person. However, if I were to choose one person whose message I find important it would be Mother Theresa. While I admire her dedication to the poor of India and her purely giving lifestyle, the thing I find most important about her life is her message towards volunteerism. My favorite quote of Mother Theresa’s says, “We can do no great things; just small things with great love.” This statement amazed me as Mother Theresa was a woman actually doing great things; she loved her neighbors enough to give up a comfortable life and live in the slums with them. I haven’t done anything like this, and that’s why I find this quote so motivating. Mother Theresa seems to say that it is alright if I haven’t single handedly fed the entire country of Malaysia as long as the small things I do are done with great love. There are so many incredible young people out there who have started their own charities and have given all their Christmas money to the food bank. I haven’t done anything like that and was beginning to feel my contributions to others weren’t enough. I worked with the local trading card program (an anti-substance mentoring program to fourth grade students) and spent hours volunteering at the local migrant program during the summer, but these weren't making an impact on a national or worldly scale. However, after reading this quote I realized my small effort was enough because I love my migrant kids and fourth graders with all of my heart. It doesn’t matter that I have never raised millions of dollars; I give great underdogs during recess and have cradled several babies in my arms. I give my heart in every minute I am working and that is what Mother Theresa believes is the most important. Although she led an incredible life, Mother Theresa is my hero because she understood that true giving is not a matter of size, but a matter of love.