You can be replaced

Let’s face it, we are all dispensable. Nearly every professional can be replaced by a new method, a machine or another person.

In fact we will be replaced; it’s the inevitability of the marketplace. Companies are organisms that live on when single cells die off – even when they are seemingly big cells like a CEO.

When we eventually disappear, will there be any effect? Will there even be a ripple on the water? Would we be missed by our co-workers and if so, just how long would they miss us before they move on – minutes or maybe hours?

Perhaps, if we have the big impact on our coworkers that we desire to have as Red Letter Believers, others might pause and reflect on their feelings for us. But they move on in their emotions. And truthfully, their sadness at your departure is tempered by the grab for your stapler and the horse race for your office.

That’s what we do. We move on. We adapt. We adjust ourselves to the new reality and we get on with it. We keep the good feelings and memories of the past with us, but they quickly get crowded out by our daily tasks. Time drifts by, weeks pass and then months and we catch ourselves wondering “whatever happened to…”

We want to move beyond just putting in time toward making a lasting impact.

I once had an assistant named Sharon. In 1993, as she left to take another position, she gifted me a black, leather NIV with my name embossed on it. This was a full five years before my conversion. Today, that Bible is beautifully worn and sits on my nightstand next to my bed. She had impact on my life. Can I have impact on just one other person like she did me?