See the Difference

How many charities use the tag line, "Make a Difference?" Pretty much all of them, right? It's powerful. It's a call to action that asking you to look outside yourself for a minute and do something more.

How powerful would it be for you to SEE the difference you're making? For you to walk away from an experience and actually know that you just changed someone's life. That's the difference of Open Heart Magic. We hear from nurses and parents, over and over, "That's the first time I've seen them smile." How would you like to be the reason that a sick child smiled for the first time since being admitted to the hospital? How much of a difference would that make in your life to actually see the difference you're making for someone else?

Nobody enjoys being in the hospital, especially an 8 year old boy who would much rather be at the pool with his friends or playing video games with his brother. They know that every time that door opens, it's going to be a doctor, nurse, or technician coming in to test, examine, poke, or prod them once more. Then someone comes in with a simple greeting, "Hi, I'm an Open Heart Magic magician. Want to see some magic?" They're no longer scared about what's up next for them when that door opens. Instead they're smiling and anxiously awaiting the first trick. And that smile on their face heals the worries of their parents. If you've ever been a parent with a child in the hospital, you know there is no comfort until the doctor tells you your child is going to be ok and can go home. Watching your child smile for the first time gives you hope that that will actually happen.

Our magicians look forward to their hospital visits all week. They say that after a visit they basically float all week. Nothing says it better than one of our magicians, Diego Gonzalez, when he says, "I have always been driven to make this world a better place. Unfortunately, I am also impatient. What I love about Open Heart Magic is that the impact you are making on these kids and families is in real time. Whether I am able to make them laugh, smile, or amaze them, it all happens immediately. Regardless of how bad a day I may have had, when I get done with my service, it reminds me of what is truly important in life: helping others is the true meaning of life".

That's how powerful SEEING the difference is.

So often we get overwhelmed with things going on in our lives. There's stress at work, stress at home, you had a fight with your brother, gas is too expensive, you're tired of all the snow in Chicago (I know I am). As someone who deals with their fair share of stress, I can tell you that the second you're willing to put all of that aside and think about someone else, it puts it all in perspective. Your stress isn't gone, but you remember that there's much more to life than what went wrong with your day.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated in 1957 that "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'what are you doing for others'?". 55 years later, it's still a valid question. What ARE you doing for others?