| When I was a young physical therapist just getting into | | | | Then one day I was walking down the hall when I saw |
| the arena of human suffering I worked at a very old | | | | this very small boy trying to get a drink of water. He |
| inner city school for disabled children. The school had | | | | was about two inches too short to reach it. He had a |
| originally been built for kids with TB and polio and was | | | | crutch in one hand and a brace on his leg and his |
| called an "open air" school. It was designed so that its | | | | clothes were dirty, the cuff on his sleeve torn and |
| large windows were aligned in such a way as to bring | | | | raveled. He was a perfect, modern day Tiny Tim. |
| in fantastic ventilation. This was a treatment and | | | | I lifted him up to the water fountain. He seemed to |
| prevention approach back then. | | | | drink forever. When I put him down he turned and |
| In the beginning I believed I could "fix" the problems set | | | | gave me a big hug and a big smile. Then, in a surprising |
| before me. And I made so many mistakes you could | | | | burst of speed, he turned and ran-almost a skipping |
| fill a bucket with them. Gratefully I had a supervisor | | | | motion as he threw his braced leg in front of |
| who was kind and funny and she taught me without | | | | him--down the hall to go back to his recess in the gym. |
| me even knowing it. | | | | That moment, that hug, that smile changed my life. I |
| But as time went on I realized I could have very little | | | | finally realized what it was all about. It wasn't about |
| impact on these kids. Most of their deformities and | | | | changing the world or rescuing kids from their |
| weaknesses and neurological problems were of long | | | | challenges. It was about right now, right here. How can |
| standing and the changes I was going to be able to | | | | I help right now, right here. |
| make were going to be small. In addition, I was learning | | | | In our lives we only have the present. We only have |
| what horrendous conditions these kids lived in because | | | | this moment. The secret, I learned, is to make it the |
| of their poverty, and I had no solution for these | | | | best moment that we can. And that is truly how we |
| devastating problems. These children were not only | | | | save the world, with this moment, which then feeds |
| dealing with a disability they were also literally starving | | | | into the next moment and so on. Like dominoes in a |
| (some only ate at school, with no food at home for | | | | line one affects the next until there is a cascade of |
| weekends or evenings), without everyday | | | | effort, a cascade of change. The beauty of it is that |
| conveniences like running water and electricity. I felt | | | | this power to change the world, one moment at a time, |
| overwhelmed and depressed. What could I do? What | | | | is available to all of us. We all have the power to |
| difference would any of my work make? | | | | change the world. |