Brighten the Corner Where you Are

Brighten the Corner Where You Are

~ Helen Steiner Rice ~ 

We cannot all be famous

Or be listed in “Who’s Who,”

But every person great or small

Has important work to do,

For seldom do we realize

The importance of small deeds

Or to what degree of greatness

Unnoticed kindness leads—

For it’s not the big celebrity

In a world of fame and praise,

But it’s doing unpretentiously

In undistinguished ways

The work that God assigned to us,

Unimportant as it seems,

That makes our task outstanding

And brings reality to dreams—

So do not sit and idly wish

For wider, new dimensions

Where you can put in practice

Your many “good intentions”—

But at the spot God placed you

Begin at once to do

Little things to brighten up

The lives surrounding you,

For if everybody brightened up

The spot on which they’re standing

By being more considerate

And a little less demanding,

This dark old world would very soon

Eclipse the “Evening Star”

If everybody brightened up

The corner where they are!

I thought the expression "bloom where you're planted" went hand in hand with this poem by Helen Steiner Rice. No matter our circumstances, living arrangements, status in society, or financial means - we can be used by God. Ask Him how and He'll open quiet opportunities that will bless you and others in abundance.

I remember a time I was visiting in a nursing home. I saw a woman in a wheelchair with her head hung down, looking at the floor.  She lifted her head and looked around a bit. When our eyes met, I smiled at her. Her countenance changed before me and she lit up with a broad grin as if she were in the midst of a beautiful garden of flowers and birds. I'll never forget that. A small insignificant act on my part seemed to make such a difference in someone's day.

Why not look for opportunities to brighten the corner where you are. Have a blessed day my friends.