HOW WE LIVE OUR LIVES

Jackie Robinson, the Hall of Fame baseball player, was most famous for breaking baseball's colour barrier, as the first African-American player in Major League Baseball. He is an American hero - he endured death threats and taunts from fans, and even threatened boycotts from opponents and his teammates. He could've quit, he could've fought back, but he did neither. Instead he went out and played the best baseball he could, and was rewarded with a spot in the Hall of Fame after his retirement, on top of all the accolades he received during his playing career.

Beyond his prowess on the baseball diamond, Robinson was a prolific quote. One of his most poignant ones was: A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.

This past summer, I wrote about a young relative that died. Given the 3000 people that attended his funeral, and the wonderful things that were said about him, and the fact that we all miss him terribly, I'd say that he did have an impact on people. He died while serving in his country's armed forces, helping to defend against terrorist activities.

We're all here on borrowed time, and in some cases, like my cousin's, that time is very short. We're all given the same 24 hours in a day, and unlike money, you can't save that time for later, and you for sure don't get interest on it. So, we have to make the most of our time here.

The only way to quantify how a person has spent their time on earth is what Robinson said: how we impact others. We all have the ability to impact others, and hopefully, in a way that is for the good of society.

We can impact other people in a whole host of ways. The easiest way is to do volunteer work. Most of you are educated and able bodied and there's a lot of worthy causes out there that would appreciate a helping hand. Just by volunteering you'd be helping that organization accomplish what it sets out to do.

Volunteering is the most obvious way to have an impact on others. When you volunteer, you're directly impacting other people, even though you may not be able to see it right away.

But, as it turns out, most of us do have an impact on other people around us, sometimes even a greater one that is not as obvious for you to see, or even think. The best thing you can do is to tell the people who've had an impact on you that they have - let them know how much they mean to you. Afterall, you probably won't know until they show up at your funeral, and even then, you definitely can't tell them how much they've impacted you.

Dedicated to the people who have had a positive impact on me and have made me a better person, and in particular to my friends who are not with me in Toronto, but are in my heart. They know who they are...