By Camille Ramdial Cumberbatch
You may be changing lives without even knowing it. This realisation came to me this week when a client called me upon becoming informed of my husband Mike’s passing. He shared his observation of seeing Mike and me in Church together and how this impacted him. During this period, he didn’t even know me and was pleasantly surprised when we interacted last year, and he realised I was the person he had observed at Our Lady of Perpetual Help previously.
At the time of my client’s observation, Mike’s physical state had changed, and he needed support while using his walker to move around. My client said he would observe us coming into the Church together, sitting in a pew in front of him. He would watch us lean on each other and then observe us hug for the “Sign of peace” during the Mass. He said he would think, “What a blessed couple. What a loving couple.” He would then observe me help Mike get up for us to leave.
When he shared this with me, I got emotional but thanked him for his heartwarming words. I felt happy that our love was visible, and I hoped, as my client shared subsequently, that our small display of love would be “a blessing to another”, hopefully inspiring others to do the same.
Upon reflection, this experience highlighted some key principles for me.
· We never know how our actions are being interpreted by others. Unknowingly, we are being watched and one little act can have a profound impact on someone. I was pleasantly surprised by his sharing which reinforced to me the importance of being mindful and intentional in my interactions with others, hopefully in a respectful and loving manner.
· Michael and I were passionate about our purpose of ‘Changing Futures’ which became the mission statement for our HR consultancy company. We both always aimed to positively impact others to make a difference. My client’s sharing made me feel encouraged that we were inadvertently fulfilling our purpose, by how we engaged with each other. It reminded me that how we live our lives can also inspire others and although neither one of us was perfect nor sinless, our actions could have positively influenced others, in their relationships.
Coincidentally, a client of our HR company also recently contacted me to find out if we were hosting our ‘Bootcamp for Teenagers’ leadership development programme. Mike and I used to do this annually, during the vacation period, and her son had attended one year. She revealed that he had been going through a difficult period at the time, due to her divorcing his father, but our programme had significantly impacted him. She was very thankful and testified that the experience was instrumental to helping him develop into a young man, now attending university. This mother now wanted to recommend our programme to a friend, who has three teenagers.
After all these years, her feedback was timely and very affirming. It reinforced the value of our work and reignited my personal passion to continue changing futures, as we did years ago with her son.
So what am I asking you to consider? As Romans 8:28 says: “We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” I am suggesting that we focus on discovering God’s purpose for us, and trust that once we live our life according to His will, in the little and big things we do, all things will fall into place. Even when experiencing challenges, let us aim to live our fullest, purpose-driven life for His glory on Earth.
I have found being aligned to my purpose of ‘Changing Futures’ both personally and professionally, brings me joy, happiness and a sense of fulfilment in my life. I am usually happy, creative and perform excellently, not highly focused on the financial reward. The money will and has come, in one way or another, as Matthew 6:33 states, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
So, as my future changes, I propose we aim to live purposeful lives, full of love, hoping our actions can help others transform and be influenced to pass it on!