Today I was muddling through my morning. Reading the newspaper (online), walking the dogs, going for a run that is more jogging and reflecting upon our world. There is much strife, hardship, violence, trauma, challenges, and sadness. There is much positivity, connection, individuals and groups taking actions to help others who need help in a multitude of ways, creating ripples of positivity and kindness all around us. It’s like when the sky is dark and stormy yet slivers of light push their way through or magically rainbows appear saying you cannot stop me stormy sky.
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we have been waiting for. We are the change we seek.” Barack Obama
Think about it. As human beings our actions have the power to influence social change. Social change as defined by Southern New Hampshire University “is the way human interactions and relationships transform cultural and social institutions over time, having a profound impact of society.” Yes every single one of us can be social change agents. There are well know social agents such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Emmeline Pankhurst, Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglas, Alexander Hamilton, Brenda Howard, Harvey Milk, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Greta Thunberg, and Malala Yousafzai just to name a few. These individuals decided to take action to bring positive change to others.
“I may be only one person, but I can be that one person who makes a difference.” Unknown
As I continued to muddle through my mind I was reflecting on the area where I live, which is Rochester New York, and all the helpful, positive actions going on. Health and wellness fairs, support for substance abuse, mental health, and other health issues have begun to bring help to those in need, groups working to help people who are homeless, community food gardens to provide food, Wall Art Therapy to beautify areas, programs to support youth, helping animals and much, much more. A few weeks ago when driving to work I was passing an intersection where people often are standing and asking for help. A car drove up onto the curb with take out food and drinks to give to the people. Rochester is not unique to having lots of helpers and lots of social change agents. Everywhere around the world this is happening. I read about it every day because this is happening every day.
“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.” Dalai Lama
The more people like you and me, individually or collectively, work towards positive social change the more positive social change there will be. The more people like you and me stop our judgements and shaming of others, and let’s be clear none of us are perfect, to help in the way we can the more positive social change there will be. In social media the more people post the positives along with helpful information the more positive social change there will be. Your world is my world and my world is your world. We have some big problems going on. We also have some big solutions going on. Do you want to stand by and watch or do you want to jump in and take action to create a better world for all of us? I used to stand by too much and it never felt okay. Jumping into action and working towards positive social change has helped make me a happier and healthier human.
“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” Desmond Tutu
So today on my muddling mind Sunday my call to each one of you is to take an action that will have a positive impact on the life of someone else. This article in VeryWell Mind states “Helping others has been shown to decrease stress levels and minimize the impact of stress on your physical health and well-being.” Send a card, buy a meal, return a grocery cart, volunteer for something. If you are on social media post and support stories of positive, helpful actions or share helpful information. Let’s put together all of our little bits of good and overwhelm the world❤️
Photo by kalei peek on Unsplash
