Young people today have been convinced they live for “the change”. But, in reality, we live in fear of “the change”. We are consumed by this idealistic notion of a perfect world, cornered by the obstacles that prevent us from taking a step toward making a difference. We are told we are the change, we are responsible for the world, and yet, how are we to live up to such a claim? When have we been given a universal outline for the “proper” way to impact society?
Blindly we walk into the world hoping to meet expectations of world peace and the discovery of the cure-all for fatal diseases. Our generation is held to a standard that requires a large transformation of government, of nature, of culture. Essentially, we are conditioned to believe that only an immense impact on society, concerning the world as a whole, will fulfill our duties. However, I believe it is the stress of immensity that hinders revolutionary minds. We are expected to go head to head with this giant monster known as all the world’s issues and then to come out the other end unscathed.
We are doomed for failure when we perceive change as a blanket statement for everything wrong with the world. It is problematic to strive for perfection instead of progress. In order to be better and make an impact society deserves, it may be as simple as living a life filled with random acts of kindness. It may require only small changes that may not affect over 7 billion people but may affect just one. The world will never be the utopia it is expected to be; it can, however, be a world better than it is accepted to be. It is my belief that, if we look to achieve more in our own lives, as individuals concerned with the community, we can inspire an epidemic of wanting more for oneself and, inevitably, for the world. We don’t have a responsibility to save the world; we have a responsibility to leave it in a better state in which we received it, whether that be by positively changing one person, one community, or even just oneself.
Photo Sources:
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http://destination-yisrael.biblesearchers.com/.a/6a0120a610bec4970c0168e51c1555970c-pi