I’ve been a frequent summer visitor to Lake Ada in Minnesota, where some of my extended family keep summer homes. The area is remote–a nice getaway from city bustle–and convenient for making day trips to other natural areas.
Less than 90 minutes to the northwest is Itasca State Park, where the Mississippi River begins. Everyone’s heard of the “mighty Mississippi,” but here at the headwaters, it doesn’t look so mighty: just a trickle, a waterhole, and a small beach. It has over 2,500 miles to go–and grow–before it reaches Louisiana, the Mississippi River Delta, and its final destination in the Gulf of Mexico.
Imagine if that trickle in Minnesota said, “Me become a great river? What a ridiculous idea. Anyone can see I’ll never be anything important. And a long trip is too much work for a little guy like me. I’ll just stay here in my comfortable waterhole.” Soon, there’d be nothing but a stagnant waterhole–and, if every rivulet took that attitude, a dry, dead gully along those 2,500 miles south.
Next time you start feeling that your efforts don’t matter, that your best is too small to make a difference, that it’s no use setting a big goal that may take thousands of miles and months/years/decades to achieve, consider that little spot in Minnesota. If you have a bayou or creek flowing nearby, go there and ponder small beginnings for a while. Mighty rivers from tiny trickles grow.
