Ultimately, it all comes down to YOU!

The national and global environment is growing ever more toxic.  We are quick to point fingers, to blame and belittle others.  It’s always somebody else’s fault.  I get it. I do.  The scope of the problems facing us are so huge and overwhelming.  It’s easier to pass them off as somebody else’s fault so that we don’t have to admit our feelings of fear and helplessness.  It’s easier to do nothing and shroud ourselves in a protective shield of negativity when we feel crushed by our inability to change things. Anger is easy.  Blame is easy.  Taking responsibility is not.  It means we must do something we feel incapable of doing.

How much change can one person affect?
 The problems are huge
 And I, so small

So ponders the seed in the shade of Great Mother Tree
 How can something so humble ever touch the sky?
 The obstacles are great
 The hull hard
 Seemingly impenetrable
 Impossible

The secret hides at its center
 A spark igniting transformation
 The miracle of metamorphosis
 The innate desire to grow
 To exist
 To be free

This idea watered and fed with light and love
 Begins to cast its own shadow
 To spread its own branches
 Growing to heights never thought possible
 Kissing the clouds!

This sheltering arbor, once so small,
 now litters the earth with its fertile rain
 And soon
 A forest is born

Be. The. Seed.

We forget that every day we make a thousand choices on how we choose to live our lives, from how we treat the people around us to how we spend our money and free time.   We have so much more power than we think we do.

We need to play to our strengths.  We too often compare ourselves to others doing extraordinary things and think, there is no way we could accomplish something like that.  We’re not smart enough, rich enough, fast enough, etc.  So again, we choose to do nothing. The key is what CAN you do?  What are your strengths?  Are you terrified of public speaking, but can write the hell out of an opinion piece?  Then incite change by writing about it.  Are you short on money, but can fund raise like a used car salesman?  Then go out and raise money for the cause you are fighting for.  Do you have a few extra hours a week or maybe only a few a month?  Then volunteer at an animal shelter/soup kitchen/bake sale/community 5K. Do you feel that at this point in your life you are too short on time, money or energy to do much of anything?  Then, just go out and be the best possible human being you can be, inciting change with your everyday actions.  Love the heck out of the people in your life and those around you. Love is powerful. Kindness is powerful.

No one is good at everything.  No one is likely to affect mass change all by themselves. But, we can plant the seed.  We can be the pebble that starts the ripple. We need to stop blaming others for the inequities in the world and instead turn the lens inward. Start something with your actions, however small they appear to be.  Smiling at a stranger is as much of an action as starting a petition or donating to charity.  Just DO something. It all comes down to YOU!