What Does it Take to Make a Difference in the World?

It seems to me that part of the human condition involves some variation of the search for meaning. We often feel like we want to contribute something; we want to do our little part to leave a mark on the world or to make the world a better place as a result of us having been here.

“What can I do to make a difference in the world?”

I think that may be a question most of us have asked ourselves at one point or another.

The thing about it, is that it can be a really daunting question, if not outright overwhelming.

“Making a difference in the world” seems like it would require some kind of enormous achievement, like finding a cure for cancer, or ending hunger, or ending poverty and homelessness, or inventing a new kind of power source.

When we look at it from that sort of angle, we tend to get really overwhelmed and then we start thinking “I might as well just give up, I'm not important or powerful enough to make a difference in the world.”

But what does it take to make a difference in the world?

I think one of the ways we often get in our own way of doing good is by imagining that “making a change” has to be this huge production.

But that simply isn't true; at least I don't think so. In fact, most of us ”make a difference” in somebody's life just about every day. We just don't think that it “counts” because we're just doing small and possibly mundane things... not some huge newsworthy thing that's going to be on TV.

I think we make a difference in the world, pretty much every time we commit an act of kindness, or help a stranger, will make somebody's day just a little bit better.

Consider this: what if — tomorrow — everybody resolved to do just one small nice thing for everybody else? Even though each individual thing might not amount to much, the fact that millions of people all were doing something nice for each other would in fact be a very large thing!

And so, I have learned not to despair when it seems like I have never contributed anything “big and important” to make the world a better place. Instead, I'd like to think that I have made the world a better place by virtue of doing many small things for many people over a long period of time.

So be kind to people! It does make a difference in the world.

Thanks for reading, and have a great remainder of your weekend!

How about YOU? Do you ever feel that you would like to make a difference in the world? Have you done anything you feel has made the world a better place? Or do you feel that your contributions are too small? Do leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — NOT A CROSSPOST!!!)
Created at 20210627 00:12 PDT
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