I am just drop in the ocean...

     Mother Teresa once said, "We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."
     Recently Jim and I crossed the Atlantic ocean on a cruise ship.  In port, the ship we traveled on seemed enormous but standing on the deck watching the sea go past, the ship seemed so very small.  With no land in sight, the ocean went on forever and I became lost in the vastness of the never ending water.  Somehow I began to realize that my life was like a small drop in the ocean and all the work I do fighting to end the spread of HIV and AIDS has done nothing but create tiny ripples in that vast ocean. 
     Still, I am not depressed.  Even a small ripple can gather strength and become a tidal wave.  By continuing to make my voice heard, by yelling, screaming, teaching, and talking, I am giving my ripples strength.  And by doing all I do, others are joining me, adding their drops into the ocean and adding strength to my ripples.  And my drops are joining others who started before me.  The wave grows and grows until some day, it may become a huge tidal wave and overtake the spread of HIV.
     So, when someone calls me a "drip", I will consider that a compliment.  I will continue to fight, to make my voice heard.  I will continue to be a drop in the ocean, causing ripples that will grow into a tidal wave until the day that the spread of HIV has stopped and AIDS is just a memory, a small drop in the ocean that is life.