The Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., President of the University of Notre Dame, said in his Inaugural Address that, "If we are afraid to be different from the world, how can we make a difference in the world?" In what way do you feel you are different from your peers, and how will this shape your contribution to the Notre Dame community?
I am observant. Wherever I am or whatever I am doing, I keep an eye out for details. I notice a glimmer in someone's eye, a broken lamp, a tentative smile, a misspelled word, or a crookedly hanging picture frame. Where someone may walk by people sitting on a bench I will look at them and remember their faces line by line and crease by crease, the way their mouth curves as they smile and the furrows on their brow as they frown.
At Notre Dame the mission statement emphasizes a sensibility to human suffering and injustice. To be sensitive, one must be observant. Change cannot be made where the necessity for it is not seen. To contribute to cultivating a sense of human solidarity, there is no need to look to the other end of the earth; it is enough to look outside the window. Mother Teresa said, "Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you."
Too often people are so caught up in the rat race of life that they forget the world around them. It is enough to look around and notice that even within our own environments one person can be tuned into the needs of others. Opening a door for someone is enough. Helping someone pick up something they dropped in enough. Giving a friend a few dollars for lunch in the cafeteria is enough. Oftentimes people seek to make a profound change in the lives of innumerable people, but one does not become a saint instantly. Constant acts of small, random kindness build up to create a constant have the same effect. Change begins at home, whether that home may be in your family house or in a dorm hall.
To be sensitive, one must be observant.
Awesome! Reade Awareness by Anthony De Mello!
Also, here is another Web resource that shows how awareness (mindfulness) leads to ". Constant acts of small, random kindness"
The quote is about a way in which you are different that might make you uncomfortable... a way you might feel afraid to be different but have to express it anyway. I don't think you are afraid to be so observant. Perhaps you have a shortcoming that balances this strength, and perhaps that shortcoming is like the flipside of this strength, making it something you might hesitate to be. Capture the sense of boldly being different even when it is difficult.
:-)
