God: Why do you seem so dejected today, son?
Me: Oh, thank God you’re here (pun intended), I smiled.
Me: I feel that nature and the environment are incredibly important. Since childhood, I’ve been taught to respect nature, save trees, and pollute less. I’ve tried to live by that to a great extent.
And then I look around the world — there are thousands of individuals and organizations fighting every day to save the environment, protect animals, preserve sea life, and curb pollution in land, water, and air.
But after years of doing the right thing, I don’t see much improvement. With every passing day, I hear about increasing pollution, trees being cut down for development, and animal species going extinct.
Forget the world — even my own city and locality don’t seem to remain clean or healthy.
It feels like I’m losing this battle. It seems like my efforts have no impact. After years of trying, I’ve started to believe I have no control over any of this, and my efforts might not matter at all.
So what’s the point of trying to make things better?
And this thought has spilled over into other areas of my life, too. I’ve started questioning everything. Does my work have any impact? I don’t see most things changing the way I would want them to — enough to keep me motivated to continue everyday struggles and battles.
God: Completion or changed circumstances are not the ultimate proof of the impact of your work or your efforts.
Things take time — sometimes a lot of time. Think about the world’s iconic buildings, the freedom struggles, or, on a personal level, the efforts of an ordinary person trying to overcome alcoholism.
None of these things are accomplished in a day, a week, a month, a year- or sometimes even in decades. And in the case of iconic structures, they even take hundreds of years. Does that mean one shouldn’t put in any effort at all, or should get disheartened and give up midway?
Every day you work, every moment you put in an earnest effort toward accomplishing something that matters, it creates a profound impact – on your life and on others’.
The pyramids, the Taj Mahal, and countless other marvels of human engineering would never have been completed if the laborers hadn’t done back-breaking work for years, or if the people funding those projects had thought, “It’s not going to be completed in our lifetime, so what’s the use? Let’s abandon it.”
All of humanity stands on the shoulders of those who came before. You build upon others’ work, and others will build upon yours. For that, you need to continue the work — the struggle, if you’d like to call it that.
A clean corner a day, one whale or one rhino surviving poaching — that’s a huge impact. A 100-rupee donation might not eradicate poverty, but it could have a major impact on the recipient. It could feed his family for a day. Maybe that one day is all that matters for them. The next day could be better even without your help — but if no one had donated that food packet, blanket, or those few rupees, that family might not have survived.
Me: I get your point, but from a human perspective — if we don’t see the impact right in front of our eyes, or if we see years of hard work being undone — how do we keep ourselves motivated? How do we not feel like it’s all a waste?
God: Smiles… As you said, you are human, not me. So you don’t have the ability to see all the impacts of your actions. You can only see what’s right in front of you. But always remember — your actions have effects far beyond what you can see. Every action, good or bad, ripples outward.
If you help clean a beach and feel satisfaction at that moment — that’s impact enough for you. There are other impacts you don’t see and don’t need to worry about, but keep in mind — they exist. Maybe your action gave that beach one more day of beauty and cleanliness. Be content with that.
You work day in and day out trying to make life better. Your work conditions may not change, your salary may not increase for years — but every single day of work feeds your family. The money you earn, the work you do — it impacts other lives, other livelihoods.
You can always strive to do better — get a better job, involve more people in your environmental efforts, secure more donations — but if you keep thinking “it’s not enough,” then nothing ever will be.
If you change your perspective, though, even a $1 donation can have as much meaning as a $1 million one.
Sometimes, you’ll get to finish the project that hundreds before you started and see its direct impact. Other times, you’ll be among those hundreds who started it, and someone else will witness the results. Take solace in knowing that your work will always have an impact.
And don’t keep score — I’m keeping it for all of you.
Me: Thank you, God. This gives me the perspective I was lacking — and the strength to continue.
God: And whenever you feel demotivated because of such thoughts, think back to our conversation.
And god disappears into the air.
✨ Reflection
This conversation reminded me that impact isn’t always visible, measurable, or immediate. Sometimes we’re so focused on results that we forget the quiet power of persistence.
We live in an outcome-driven world — one that constantly demands proof of success. But life often unfolds in ways we can’t see. A kind word, a small donation, a consistent act of care — they may not change the world overnight, but they do make ripples.
Our job isn’t to measure those ripples. It’s simply to keep making them.
Because someone before us did the same — and thanks to them, we get to stand where we are today.
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