I often forget about how big the world is, and how trivial some of my worries are. With that being said, I also forget that my problems are just as big as anyone else’s problems and that I am worth being worried about. It’s hard to balance it all sometimes.
I had the opportunity to intern at a wonderful non-profit this past semester, Wine to Water, and they often use the phrase “drop in the bucket.” When we send volunteers to the Amazon, Cambodia, Nepal, the Dominican Republic, etc., it’s easy for them to feel that their contributions are not worth much and that they aren’t making as much of an impact as they would have liked to make while they are there; a drop in the bucket.
I think that it is easier to feel like your contributions, in any aspect of your life, are just a drop in the bucket rather than looking at the big picture and knowing that you are filling the bucket in hopes that one day it will be full.
One of my favorite places in the entire world is Kiawah Island, which is where the picture above is taken. I love the ocean because of how small it makes me feel, and it is rare these days that I ever feel small. I especially love Kiawah because of the quiet, slow nature of the island. Most people get around by bike, walking, and car. I’s an older demographic that resides there, it’s family oriented, and the nature is so well kept and preserved. I imagine that heaven is something like the sun setting over the island every night.
I’ve gone to this island for ten years now, and every year I am astounded by the home-like, comforting feeling I get when we pass under the Oak trees to the entrance of the Island.
When I’m here, I feel like a drop in a bucket, and I am so humbled by it. Lee Ann Womack put it best when she said “I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean” becuase there truly isn’t a feeling like it. There isn’t a feeling like looking out into the ocean, not knowing how far it is until you reach land, knowing that so much life is just under the waves, from the shores to the depths and the caverns of the oceans, or even wondering what the person a few hundred yards down from you is thinking when they’re staring into the sea.
I have a lot going on both in my life and in my head, much like every other human that inhabits this planet. I feel, so often, like a drop in the bucket – incredibly unimportant and often forgotten, and that’s not a good feeling. Being an intern at Wine to Water has taught me that being a drop in the bucket on this earth, or in the life of someone else, is nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to be discouraged about. Just like stepping stones on a path to a given destination, we as people are too- we are drops in a bucket filling each different person’s bucket that we interact with, one drop at a time.
During this time of year, it is easy to feel like a drop in the bucket, but I urge you to take pride in those little, seemingly insignificant droplets. One day you’ll look down and your bucket will be full.