One simple way you can change the world
I love being in the presence of people fully living in their moment; the dedicated, committed and passion-fuelled life-lovers, blazing their trail in everyday life.
The energy of these people is infectious — a magnetism all of its own both lifting up that which is around them and also drawing people close.
Inspiring, enthused catalysts.
Who comes to mind from the description above? Do you know someone?
Perhaps Oprah, Einstein, Elon Musk or even Gabby Bernstein? They have all made their mark on the world, they have all created the ‘impact’ that I hear people talk about creating. Or what about someone in your local community? The local heroes who go above and beyond with little recognition to better the lives of those that live nearby?
What about you? Do you dream of changing the world? Do you want to create an impact?
I read and hear that word so often, it seems to be the one stable collective millennial dream: “I want to create an impact”, and for a long time I wondered to myself about what exactly it meant. Of course the answer is like many things; in this context ‘impact’ is an abstract and therefore completely relative to the person speaking the word. It is an immeasurable emotive construct of human experience, entirely based upon our subjective perception of life and our outer world. We experience the ‘issues’ within this world, we feel the emotions which they conjure and in turn, we dream of a way that we can resolve, limit or eradicate them.
“I want to create an impact” can figuratively translate as “I want to create a better human experience for the people around me, in any way I can”.
This is noble, wonderful and shows that collective human conscience and consciousness DO exist in the world, not just in the past but in the rising generations. But the truth is, in every single conversation that we have, in every moment of our lives, we are creating ‘impact’.
When you shame or compliment another human, when you choose to litter or recycle, when you shop local or global-online, you create impact in other lives; if you want to create a positive impact that benefits humanity, make the best choice you can make in the moment that you are in.
There is no ‘perfect’, there are no ‘better’ people or lives, we are human and we are all evolving, daily. We are tested, we are hurt and disappointed. We love, are loved and we are fragile. We are inspired and have the ability to inspire any and all.
Only today my family and I were driving to the next town, along a country road which undulates and winds through tiny villages. It’s not the best road for driving if you want to get anywhere fast and with a lot of rural farm traffic it can often make for slow going. We weren’t in a rush but the traffic slowed ahead, waiting for the next clearing in oncoming traffic to get past whatever it was causing the obstruction.
Only when we got closer I realised it wasn’t a whatever at all, but a whoever, specifically a woman running at an remarkable pace, and you could feel both fire burning beneath her feet and within her. So focused, so committed to her moment that she didn’t so much as blink as the cars drove past her, she had command of the road, and I was in awe. Without saying a word, or engaging with me in any which way, she had inspired me. Perhaps she had inspired others, perhaps she pissed them off, but for me at least, she had created an impact.
Not literal so that I felt compelled to dig out my running shoes when I got home, but inspired by her passion and her intensity to the task at hand, miles from any destination that she could have been heading to. If she were tired or flagging it would not have told, she just burned on ahead regardless. There were no places where she could have slowed or waited out for a while, she knew she would have to go the distance: I could see that she would.
People talk about changing the world with grandiose ideology, when perhaps changing the world is a simple as being fully committed to your course of action in a single moment and seeing it through; can you imagine if we could all see-out our best intentions? If we committed to our goals, fully, knowing that the road would undulate ahead and there wouldn’t be a place to stop until we got there?
Perhaps changing the world is as simple as being conscious of our daily actions, and committing to consistently trying to be the best we can be in the moment, no illusions of perfection and no shame for our imperfect moments.
If you want to change the world remember that every action, every word, every breath creates impact. We all have a finite number of the above, whichever way you use them, you will change the world.
“No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.” — Robin Williams
