The impact we forget

I had the opportunity to attend our 10-year graduate school reunion recently. One of the themes that kept coming up for me: reminiscing about moments of impact. For example, I met with someone and we swapped memories. I remembered a piece of advice they’d given me that was key to my response to an important question in a final round interview that led to my internship. They remembered something I’d done that had helped them and a few others in a meaningful way. Neither of us had much memory of our own contributions — but we remembered the other’s vividly. There were other stories like this throughout the reunion. A moment of kindness that left a deep imprint. A small act of help that had meant everything at the time. Two things struck me. First, it’s easy to underestimate the impact we’ve had on others in certain moments — and overestimate how much they remember what we’ve done for them. Second, in a moment of need, an act of kindness lands differently. The imprint it leaves is deep…