Are You Happy? The Power of Attention and Impact
Meta Description: Discover how a single question can awaken awareness and reshape how we understand impact. Learn how attention and presence influence our daily lives and relationships.
We run through our lives, distracted. We live distracted lives. We rush from meeting to meeting, phone to laptop, message to message and reel to reel screen to screen — often unaware of the impact we’re making. Yet, as Dr. Jane Goodall reminds us, “You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
At 22, while sitting on a train buried in my study books, a stranger leaned over and touched my knee, looked straight into my eyes, and asked softly: “Are you happy?” Flabbergasted, I quickly answered “Yes,” but as she left, her question echoed. In truth, I realized, I wasn’t.
That single moment of presence — her quality of attention — altered the course of my life. It also made me aware that even one conscious interaction can awaken something profound.
We influence the world constantly, whether we mean to or not. The real question is: What kind of impact are you choosing? Awareness begins with attention — the willingness to see ourselves clearly, without distraction or denial. The more present we are, the more intentional our impact becomes.
Take a moment to pause and ask yourself:
• What kind of impact am I having right now?
• What kind of impact do I choose what to have?
Every moment offers a chance to shift from distraction to awareness — from reaction to emergence. Life is full of small, meaningful moments. Let’s notice them. Let’s choose them with care and quality of attention — and together, create waves.
