One day, an elephant saw a hummingbird lying on its back with its tiny feet up in the air.

“What are you doing?” asked the elephant.

The hummingbird replied, “I heard that the sky might fall today, and so I am ready to help hold it up, should it fall.”

The elephant laughed cruelly. “Do you really think,” he said, “that those tiny feet could help hold up the sky?”

The hummingbird kept his feet up in the air, intent on his purpose, as he replied, “Not alone. But each must do what he can. And this is what I can do.”

This Chinese folktale was brought up at the recent AANP conference last week that I was at. It struck me as something that I need to consider. What can I do, personally, for my local community, the larger community, and even for the world? There are so many things that can be worked on, or supported. It can be hard to think about it all because it comes back to a common theme: what can one person do. Well, one person can do what it is that they can do, and if we all do that then we are able to make changes to our community, and the world.

I encourage all of you to do what you can for your community, society, and for all of our world.

Image Credit: Ryan Bushby (CC 2.5 Generic)