Instead of cursing the darkness, light a candle for where we’re going. There’s something ahead worth fighting for. ~ Neil Young
I like this quote by Neil Young. It’s easy to get stuck in a complaining, feeling powerless rut. If we change the question we’re asking ourselves from “What’s wrong?” to “What can I do to make things better?” Everthing changes. What can you do today make our world a bit better?
Sure, complaining feels good for a hot second—like scratching an itch with a cactus. But if all we do is gripe from the couch, the only thing we’re moving is air. Time to stand up, and speak out
Complaining has a place in life. It allows us to vent our feelings and lowers the stress level a couple of degrees. Problem is, the relief is temporary. Complaining doesn’t change the conditions we’re complaining about. Actions do. Whatever the situation that is the source of our complaints we are not powerless. There is something we can do, especially if we live in a free society. We can find ways to get involved. We can vote. We can protest. We can volunteer to work to improve conditions. If we sit on our hands on the sofa and watch the news, the only change that will take place is the movement of time. C’mon, get involved. Make a difference. Do not accept the false narrative that you are powerless.
I had an interesting experience today. There’s an older guy, Jim, in my neighborhood who lives alone. When I walked by Jim’s house on Monday I saw he left a big box next to his recycle bin. The box indicated Jim bought an electric bicycle. My first thought was, good for Jim. I saw him on Tuesday and asked about it. Jim told me he put the bike together but he couldn’t figure out how to make it work. I asked if he wanted some help telling him, “Maybe two guys who refuse to read directions can figure it out.” He laughed and invited me to help him. I went to see him today (Wednesday – that’s when I’m writing this post). When I got to Jim’s house he was beaming. He figured it out and had taken his bike for its maiden voyage. All Jim needed was someone to connect with him and offer to help. I did nothing. He did it all. Now he won’t be as isolated. Who needs your help? Make a difference.
Give back to your community: Volunteering can help you feel good about yourself and make a difference in the world.
There is a lot of pressure in contemporary western society to think that the world revolves around us. It’s a hard reality when we discover that it does not revolve around us. We are part of a human collective and we connect to each other across our planet at a deep visceral level. The greater our awareness of our connection to others across our planet the more we understand each other’s deepest needs. How does this affect our health? In blue zone communities, those where people live the longest, one of the key factors these communities share is a great sense of community. People connect with and care about each other. Volunteering is one way we can connect and make a difference. There are multiple other ways to connect and make a difference. All we have to do is use our creativity. There is a corresponding and proportional positive effect on us each time we reach out and make a difference in another person’s life. C’mon, let’s do it. Let’s make a difference.
Chasing happiness is a fool’s game. One can’t catch what can’t see. When we chase happiness we ar chasing an illusion. We may think we know what happiness is; yet, when we acquire what we believed happiness to be, it’s not long before we renew our chase for our new vision of happiness. This kind of happiness is what commercials sell us. We don’t find happiness, happiness finds us. It finds us we stop our chase to acquire happiness and turn our attention outside of ourselves toward others. The path toward happiness counterintuitive. We find it in contributing to society, encouraging others, and righting injustices. Do you dare to let go of a self pursuit of happiness and counterintuitively contribute to making a difference in the lives of those closest to you?
Go out into the world and do good until there is too much good in the world. ~ Larry H. Miller
Living by faith includes the call to something greater than cowardly self-preservation. ~ J. R. R. Tolkien
Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best. ~ Henry Van Dyke
We all have a talent, maybe more than one. It’s up to us to find it and to put it to use the best we can. We may never make the headlines, win an Oscar, or be named a Nobel Prize winner. We will, if we develop our talent make a difference in another’s life. We will have lived a meaning-filled life.
When I was in basic training in the army, our platoon sergeant would come into the barracks at 4 a.m. flick the lights on and holler at the top of his lungs, “Get up, you’re snoozing, you’re losing.” We had thirty minutes to get ready for inspection. I’ve always been an early riser so the sergeant’s screaming didn’t bother me. There was a hidden message in the sergeant’s command to get up. I’m not sure he saw it or I thought about it at the time. The hidden message relates to time. You may be a billionaire or a pauper, it doesn’t matter, we all have 24 hours in our day. Money can’t buy an additional hour. How we use that 24 hours determines our character, relationships, and our life’s journey. We can snooze it away or we can make a difference. It’s all up to us.
Most of us will never make headlines. Most of the good we do will go unnoticed. It doesn’t matter, Each of our small acts of kindness makes a difference for somebody. Today, when I leaving the gym, one of the front desk workers was leaving at the same time. I said to her as we passed, “I hope you have the best day ever.” She looked at me and said, “I hope so.” I responded, “You deserve it.” She squeezed my hand and that was it. I wondered what was going on in her life. I didn’t know. I knew she needed a good day. I hope she got one.
