Students on the Issues - Changing the World Part I

Changing the World Part I
By Laureen Ricks, University of Florida
September 12, 2006

I don’t meet with President Bush, Osama Bin Laden or Kim Jong II. Leaders of the Israeli, Irani or Sudanese government don’t ask for my opinion before deciding between war or peace, life or death.

Yet their decisions – however indirect – impact me. Their decisions unleash war, massacre and chaos into the world. It’s heart numbing to hear reports of chronic suffering and to feel helplessly sidelined.

Indeed, I don’t feel empowered to change the world. I hear about the civil war in Sudan. (What can I do?) Lebanon and Israel are fighting. (What can I do?) More civilian casualties are occurring in Iraq. (What can I do?) Millions are still dying of AIDS in the African continent. (What can I do?)

If I write a letter to my congressman, will it save a life? Will I zap away poverty if I join the Red Cross, World Neighbors or any other humanitarian organization? How about if I donate money? Am I making a dent?

Perhaps!

When I first began writing this article I felt cynical. However, as I continued, I remembered a poem that I had read long ago and then forgotten. I found the poem in its entirety on www.giveitforwardtoday.org.

When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world; As I grew older and wiser I realized the world would not change. And I decided to shorten my sights somewhat and change only my country. But it too seemed immovable. As I entered my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt, I sought to change only my family, those closest to me, but alas they would have none of it. And now here I lie on my death bed and realize (perhaps for the first time) that if only I'd changed myself first, then by example I may have influenced my family and with their encouragement and support I may have bettered my country, and who knows I may have changed the world.

These lines were written on the tomb of an Anglican bishop in 1100 AD in the Crypts of Westminster Abbey, according http://geocities.yahoo.com. I received three revelations:

First, I need to make sure I am the kind of person I want other people to be: kind, generous, humble, humane, full of love, slow to anger, etc. Second, I need to treat the people closest to me with love and respect. I have no influence over world leaders, but I do have influence over my family, my friends, my neighbors, my classmates, my teachers, etc. When I treat them well, I believe they will treat well those closest to them, and so on. (It works the same way when you treat someone badly.) In a way, you affect thousands by affecting one.

I don’t influence world leaders or world events. Yet I can still make a positive impact in this world via the people in my realm of influence with systematic kindness and love. For example:

Telling my family and friends that I love them.
Repairing any broken or negative relationships in my life.
Doing my chores without being asked.
Making or buying dinner for my family.
Smiling at strangers.
Giving genuine compliments.
Opening the door for strangers.
Paying the toll for five cars behind me.
Tipping more than 18 percent.
Volunteering (mentoring to a child, spending time with the elderly at a nursing home, building shelters for the needy, etc).

I also found two easy ways that I can have a more direct, global impact.

Sponsoring a child. (Do research. There are many great programs.)
Financially supporting a humanitarian organization.

Lastly, as I wrote this article, I realized that I felt helpless largely because I was uneducated. A five-second search on the Internet made me realize that millions of people and thousands of organizations are working to bring peace and wholeness to the world. It is my goal to research ways that I and other young people can be a part of this effort.

That and much more in CHANGING THE WORD PART II.

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