Do Something That Really Matters

Most of us work at least 8 hours a day, and at least 40 hours a week, right? That’s easy, we know that, but have you realised that over the course of a 40-year work-life span that’s more than 75,000 hours?I always want to finish a day of work knowing that I spent the day well, that I utilised my talents and skills, that I was challenged, knowing that I gave the best of me and that I cannot imagine doing anything else.I want to know that I spent my day doing something that really matters.Doing something that really matters is a challenge. It certainly challenges me. But somehow when you are very clear on why you are doing something and how it impacts people, you seem to fairly easily find a way through every challenge and obstacle you encounter.I literally found a way to walk over hot coals!

Almost 7 years ago I found myself promising survivors of sex trafficking that I would find girls in rural villages who aren’t in school and help them go to school so that they aren’t trafficked. I had never been to a rural village and had no idea how to fulfil such a promise!And then I found myself at a seminar that I did not know included a fire-walk! A quick Google search told me that my skin is like paper and should burn, and my blood is predominantly water and should boil. I knew this firewalk was a pivotal moment in my life. I knew that if I could do this scary thing, I could draw on it next time I had a scary thing I needed to do. So I pictured, at the end of the path of hot coals, girls trapped in a brothel cell, looking at me, their arms outstretched through the bars, and I told myself I’d walk over hot coals to get to them. And I did.I knew in that moment that no matter the obstacle, challenge or difficulty involved in building and managing an organisation to protect girls that I would do whatever it took.So far we have kept 700 girls safe from being trafficked. Working in a developing nation with 700 families who are living in extreme poverty and are at greatest risk of being targeted by traffickers, means the challenges and obstacles are sometimes enormous and they come thick and fast. Often we haven’t finished dealing with one issue or problem when the next one is already upon us. But knowing we are doing something that really matters keeps us focused, and gives us the strength to do whatever it takes.