Jennifer Wallace

So Julie connected the two.

With a friend, she started to collect gently used home goods and deliver them to people who could use them.

That simple act of care has transformed thousands of lives, including Julie's.

All of us here will go through painful life transitions, the loss of a loved one, an illness, maybe an empty nest, even retirement.

These transitions can shake our sense of mattering to its core.

But like Julie, we have an opportunity, even a responsibility, to make ourselves useful again.

The way back can start small, checking in on a neighbor or appreciating out loud a colleague who's always so kind and supportive.

What you will find is that the fastest way to feel like you matter again is to remind someone else why they do.

Now, at this point, some of you may be thinking, the problem isn't that I don't matter, it's that I matter too much.

At home, at work, what you wouldn't give to matter just a little bit less.

Am I right?

Well, this too can be thought of as a crisis of mattering.

True mattering is not about stretching ourselves to the breaking point.

It's about balance, balancing our own needs with the needs of others.

For years, I have personally struggled to find this elusive balance.

And then I read a study conducted at the Mayo Clinic that showed me how.

Researchers there were testing a simple intervention to strengthen resilience.

They recruited a group of medical professionals, and they had them meet for one hour a week to share their struggles and to support one another.

After three months, the researchers found significant improvements in these participants' mental health and well-being.

Their cortisol levels, the stress hormone, had dropped.