The books closest to my heart are the biographies and autobiographies I own of men and women who have dared to make a difference in the world. The great adventurers of our time who push the boundaries of what society believes is possible whether it is in the world of adventuring or politics - these people are more than a flashbang*. They have left, and are leaving, a permanent mark on the landscape of humanity, and the thought that I cannot get out of my mind is - "why not me?"
For all my life I have desperately desired to make a mark on the world - as we all do I suppose. Mine is not a desire to be famous, or to have people remember my name when I die and build a monument to it. I want my mark to be on the hearts and minds of a generation. A generation that has forgotten how to dream beyond the visible realm. I want to leave the world knowing that somehow I have chnaged it for the better. I think that this is a sentiment that most of us on the planet share. I suspect that one would be hard pressed to find a person who wants to leave the planet worse off when they leave it. But if that is the case, if that is the true desire of our hearts, then why do we see so few people actually doing anything to improve the world? Granted, my dream does encompass the entire globe in my quest for a better humanity, and most people are happy to improve things a bit closer to home. Why is it then, that as a society we are so very comfortable with maintaining the status quo, when the know in our hearts, that the status quo only leads to the ultimate desturiction of everything we know and love?
We know climate change is real, but won't do anything to change it. We see wildlife suffering the effects of ingesting and getting caught in plastic waste, but don't teach our children not to litter at the very least, let alone set the example of recycling.
Is it because the energy and mental resolve that it takes to swim against the current of the group think of humanity, has become is so difficult to muster, that so few people do it? It is difficult to fight the tide of negative statements that people make - even with the little things. I am fortunate enough to live in a municilapity that has given every house a speperate recylcling bin, and recyclables are collected by the municipality, making recycling that much easier for me and my community. My younger sister doesn't live in such a congenial municipality, but she still diligently seperates her recyclables and takes them through to the closest recycling collection stations when her bins are full.
Reading this, you may be praising her commitment to the well being of our planet. But you may be surprised by the amount of negativity she has received from some people telling her that she is wasting her time, and that her doing it alone, is not going to make a difference in the bigger picture. Someone with less resolve may decide that these naysayers have a point. She is the only person she knows who recycles so diligently, so what difference is she actually making? Perhaps that is the same thought that everyone else in her neighborhood had, and that is why they don't recycle. But that is my point. When negativity comes, it is easier to believe the lies than the truth that you are in fact, making a difference.
Unfortunately for many of us, the negative statetements come most often from those who are closest to us. They come from those who have seen us fail before, and for some reason instead of cheering us on as we rise to take up the challenge again, they remind us of our previous failures and ask us why we are trying again? I think this is generally done from a place of love. They don't want us to have to go through the pain of failure, so they tell us to avoid the potential pain altogether. But what of the potential glory in overcoming? Sometimes it is because they cannot understand our way of thinking, and they know that life would me so much easier for us if we just go.with.the.flow. What they don't see is that it wouldn't be easier, it would be smaller. And if the world keeps doing things the same way, it will keep ending up with the same results it always has.
What could happen if we believed in the impossible?
For the past two months I have been in a deep space of introspection as I attempt to discover who I really am, and what my purpose is. It has so far, been one of the an incredibly painful journeys as I have come to grieve the parts of me that were lost/let go along the way because they didn't fit the mold.
One of the things that has brought immense breakthrough and heartache (strange how often those two things go together) is my current mission to complete a 40 day lifestyle and eating change as I begin this journey of discovery in to who I am . It is such a small thing, but it is a giant in my mind and heart. It is such a small thing, but I know that I will not be able to accomplish anything else that I dream of, if I cannot first conquer this. So often my mind will tell me that this is not who I am, and I should quit while I am ahead, but it is who I want to be. I am choosing to believe in, what my whole life up until now has told me is, the impossible.
Why share all of this with you? Four simple reasons:
1 - because part of me thinks it is impossible to complete this challenge
2 - I will hopefully be able to inspire others to attempt the changes that they think are impossible.
3 - Not enough people are truly honest enough these days. We share "truths" about ourselves, but not the ones that make us truly vulnerable, so I'm going to swim against that tide and share some of my deepest fears and insecurities.
4 - If I can't change myself, how can I expect to change the world?
* "A stun grenade, also known as a flash grenade or flashbang, is a non-lethal explosive device used to temporarily disorient an enemy's senses." Basically, a big show with lots of light and noise, but no permanent effect - on anything...
Photo credits: [Photo 1] authors own
[Photo 2] Invisible Children
No comments:
Post a Comment