In today's society filled with political unrest, negative headlines popping up on the regular, and violence surrounding our communities, it's easy to get stuck in the mindset that there isn't much good out there.
We dwell on the horrible issues, that we should no doubt be aware of, and feel insignificant in the process.
Our focus sometimes is directed towards contemplating the bad, but unfortunately simply stops at contemplation. What change can we bring? The massive scale of turbulent topics plagues our consciousness but how do we, as common people fix everything that weighs down on our moral compasses?
The answer isn't one we like to face. The answer is we can't. We can't fix everything that troubles us, and although there are steps we can take to be the good in this world, we can't make it so there is only good in this world.
I'm not presenting all this to be pessimistic. In fact, I'm trying to achieve the opposite.
The important message to remind ourselves of is that if we can't fix everything, we should instead focus on what we can do.
This applies to collective society on a large scale as well as our daily lives.
Whether it be the thought of solving world hunger or correcting the wrongs of an organization you are a part of, you must realize you can't do it all.
This is not to say you can't do anything, but you will be more productive when, instead of worrying about how to make a tremendous change, you instead redirect your energy to making small changes.
For example, one concerned with the environment may think "We are destroying the planet and if we don't do anything, we will hurt future generations." While this is, in fact, a statement I agree with, it is not feasible to change the minds of every person and corporation on the planet towards solely eco-friendly practices.
Dwelling on how screwed we might be if we don't do anything is not helpful to anyone. Rather, one might start with making changes in their daily life to be more eco-friendly and begin using their voice to convince those around them to do the same.
If a school club you're apart of has flawed policies created by someone of authority, it may be unrealistic to think you can suddenly change every structural aspect. But, taking small steps to speak with those who will listen, and reminding yourself why you belong to such an organization will keep you going.
If the structure is unstable, but the end cause is notable, it may be a matter of focusing on the good you are doing over everything you cannot change.
Again, I can't stress enough that I'm not trying to preach against speaking up for ourselves when things go wrong, or convince you that you do not have the power to do big things.
I am, however, trying to reinforce that to make big changes, we have to start somewhere, and often to get started, we have to take the small, possible steps first.
It happens too often that we hear people complaining about the wrong with the world without taking action.
People of power make the wrong decisions sometimes, and sometimes they make decisions that hurt the well-being of many. This is true. But it is also factual that our complaints on social media may not make a world of difference, and that thinking constantly about how much negativity there is in the world is not in and of itself enough to make a change.
Frankly, it is my belief that those who are aware of the wrong in society but choose to consider the positive happenings going on all around us are those that spread the light and truly make the greatest contributions to society.
We have to stop thinking so much about the bad things we cannot change alone, and instead, consider the small things we can do to improve the lives of ourselves and others.
If you can't change it, find something you can change and do that.
Leave behind thoughts of insignificance and adopt a mindset of optimism towards your power to help another, if even on a small scale, because the ripple effect is real, and everything has an everlasting effect on others.
Make sure your effect is a positive one.
