How You Affect The World

By Sukh Singh, Associate Partner, Lighthouse International

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

- Edmund Burke

Two journalists were killed this week live on air in the USA. More migrants are dying as they try to escape their countries for the chance of freedom. Two days of violence in Gujarat have left eight people dead. Budgets are tightening and security measures are increasing the world over.

It would be easy to read these headlines or watch the news and focus on how bad everything is, to feel how tragic these events are and then turn away because it feels like one bad thing after another.

You’re probably bracing yourself to read something like ‘changing the world starts with you’ and ‘it’s those little changes that make all the difference’ or some other cliché that you've read before. Yes, that is all true. But here’s what you might actually experience most days....

"I live my life. I work hard, get on with what I need to and I’ll try harder tomorrow."

"I see everything else going on in the wider world. It’s hard to witness but there’s nothing I can do."

Everything you do today affects someone or something in the world. You are causing a ripple effect all the time...You might have a quiet moment when you’re bored: where you feel like wasting time and surf online - or you could send some important emails and call up people you haven’t spoken to in ages. You might be tempted to talk about people behind their back - or you could bite your tongue and address them directly. People like Mandela, Gandhi or Kennedy who made powerful changes were all normal, ordinary people who made tough choices. They were just called Nelson, Mohandas, and John.

The choices we make every day don’t just affect the people in our lives. They affect the people in their lives too. We play a far bigger role than we realise. We do have a responsibility - and that’s why it’s crucial we are responsible with our actions, our words and our attitudes as much as possible.

Here is a powerful video from the film ‘Pay it Forward’ with Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt to sum it all up...

How do you feel about where the world is at the moment and what we need to do to change?

Share in the comments below...

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