How To Change The World

Life can be overwhelming. Looking around and seeing a need bigger than yourself can be discouraging. Poverty, destruction, hunger, war, death, hurt are everywhere. If you look at the news for a minute you’ll know this. If you think you can take it all, do it all, fix it all by yourself you are in for a big failure. And if you think it would be better to turn away, ignore it all, pretend it is not there you are probably failing too.

In today’s world everything is big: think big, buy big, build big, but the key to changing the world we live in is small. Help one another, love one another. Change one person's life, even in a small way, and you change their future and their world. Then hopefully they can go and change someone else’s world. Because if we try to do it all we will burn out quickly. And if we try to ignore it we actually add fuel to the destruction.

So go change someone’s world - today. Stop thinking about getting involved and do something. Go serve at the local shelter, invite someone new to your home, simply look outside of your world and you will find something you can do to change it. There are probably a few hundred volunteer programs in your community if you just ask.

Here are a few ideas:

• volunteer with an established organization*: Big Brother/ Big Sister, YMCA


• visit a local hospital, nursing home, or neighbor (a smile and hello goes a long way)


• serve at a homeless shelter, food bank program, after school program, disciple a young person


• clean up your neighborhood, local park, street corner

We often have a Superman mentality when we think about changing the world: if it is small and not world changing it does not count, so I will remain paralyzed by the overwhelming task and my inability to put a dent in it. I am not saying go cure AIDS, though it would be nice to share this cure if you happen to know it. And I am not saying do not go solve the AIDS epidemic because one day, hopefully, someone will be able to attack a giant of this magnitude. I am simply saying stop talking about doing something good. Either do it or be quiet. I know this may seem harsh but it is not. Because if you are going to start doing instead of just saying then I am happy to give that little push. And if you are full of hot air and good ideas but don't plan on getting off of the couch then I do not want to hear about it - it would just make me crazy.

* For myself, I have been investigating volunteer options with the Red Cross for when I return home.