One of my favorite segments of the TV show, “Sunday Today” with Willie Geist is called “A Life Well Lived.” Even if I cannot watch the entire show, I make every attempt to see these last few minutes at the end of the program because the stories are so uplifting and inspiring. The lives of common everyday people who have recently passed away are featured for some outstanding accomplishment they had achieved over their lifespan through hard work and dedication to their passion. No paparazzi or red carpets to walk, these ordinary people who did extraordinary deeds and quietly revolutionized things in our lifetime that we now take for granted.

Arno Motulsky, who survived Natzi Germany, eventually came to the United States and created and defined the field of medical genetics. Back in the 1950’s his groundbreaking idea that heredity impacts our health is now an assumption of our everyday lives and many lifesaving drugs have been developed out of his work. Arno quietly passed away at 94 years old.

Educator and activist Samuel D. Cook, took a job picking tobacco at the age 15 with his childhood friend Martin Luther King Jr. He went on to get his degree at Morehouse College and, after earning a doctorate degree, taught at the college level. In 1966, at Duke University in North Carolina, he became the first African American professor hired in a tenure track at a white southern university. After his second year in the position, he was named the university’s outstanding professor. Later in his career, Samuel was made president of Dillard University in New Orleans where he remained for 22 years. Samuel DuBois Cook died peacefully in his home with his wife of 55 years by his side.

Week after week I listen to stories of people who lived with grace and humility as they quietly went about their work of making history. Their impact on our daily lives is unmeasurable and yet their names are unknown.  Quiet champions who left the world a better place than when they entered it with no expectation of acknowledgement or honor.

Mahatma Gandhi says “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others” and these people most certainly lived to serve mankind. But as I reflect on my own life and those around me, I realize that a life well lived can also be found in the day to day actions of one human being to another; or a family; or a neighborhood.  Not just serving mankind but a quiet life well lived at the singular human being level.

One example of a personal life well lived was that of my step-father. A kind and gentle man who, despite health issues of his own, took wonderful care of my mother who had multiple sclerosis. His respect for her dignity and quality of care allowed her to live many years at home knowing her life had value and worth. Never once did he waver in his care and love for her; and, as his health faltered, made sure her needs were met every step of the way.

Another illustration is the story of Dick Hoyt and his son Rick. In 1977 Rick, who is a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy and cannot walk or communicate except through a computer system, told his dad that he wanted to participate in a 5 mile benefit run for a Lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident. Dick pushed his son’s wheelchair and completed the race, but because he was not an experienced runner, came in second to last. At the finish, Rick told his dad that “when we are running, I feel like I am not disabled.” Fast forward to present day and this father son team has participated in over 1100 athletic events and completed 32 Boston Marathons. Team Hoyt has raised over $1 million dollars for Easter Seals and their goal is to build character, confidence and self-esteem for physically challenged young people. One man; one son; a life well lived.

I can also share one experience that personally affected me after the death of my husband. I was a young widow with one son away at school and another small child at home. I was in nursing school and working as much as I could so time to provide a good meal seemed impossible. In fact, my sister fondly recalls a time when I asked Adam “what do you want for dinner,” and his response was “I don’t know. Where do you want to go!” At this time, a lady I knew from church approached me and told me how much she loved to cook and how she always cooked too much, so would I care if she shared a few meals with me when she had extra.  “Hate to see it go to waste!” she proclaimed. I realized later this was her way of not making me feel bad or obliged to pay her back because over the course of the next year, she quietly stopped by every Friday with some meals. All packed up and frozen and so easy to heat and eat. She continued to explain how I was helping her by taking them “off her hands” but in reality, I knew her objective was to be my food angel. I am certain she was one of the reasons I made it through that year as she nourished my body and my soul.

There are so many examples of similar people that I have worked with in the health care setting but one stands out in particular.  A patient care assistant who I will call Sue, worked part time night shift with me for many years. She was always warm and kind and never uttered a cross word about anyone. “Happy to be here,” she would say smiling when we all complained about schedules and other work related things. It was by accident that I found out that this was just an extra part time job she had in addition to her full time day job for a housekeeping company. A few years earlier, her friend had passed away of a heroin overdose and left 2 small children orphaned. Sue, who tried to help her friend through the recovery process, was devastated and decided she would not allow the children to be separated and suffer even more trauma. So she welcomed them into her home, already with 2 kids of her own, and took a part time job to help support the extended family. We still stay in contact periodically and last I heard 3 of her 4 children were in college and the youngest was graduating high school the following year. One person, unpretentious and humble, affecting the lives of 2 children who would have been lost in the system.

There are so many others I could mention but I hope this presents insight into the impact one person can have on another. Mollie Marti says, “Our power lies in our small daily choices, one after another, to create eternal ripples of a life well lived.”  It is not necessary to discover a life changing invention or become president of a college to have a life well lived. Everyday heroes live and work among us and all it takes is a little insight to recognize them. They have blessed my life and taught me that no act of kindness is too small or without a consequence; often much bigger than we can imagine.

So at the Heart of it All, in this glorious thing called life, we can celebrate our heroes and read biographies about the famous stars, but every once in a while take a step back and watch those who silently move along the path of a life well lived. Buddha tells us, “In the end, these things matter the most: How well did you love? How fully did you live? How deeply did you let go?”

Namaste