How You Can Change the World

life goals

Dec 14

I think it’s pretty much everyone’s dream to make some sort of impact on the world around us. For some people, that means donating sums of money to a few of their favorite charities or volunteering their time towards a good cause. For others, it simply means just being kind to those around you like holding the door for the person behind you or giving a tip to your waitress when you go out to eat (because believe it or not, not everyone does these simple acts of kindness).

Either way, I like to think that there are a lot of people who want to make society better (despite what we hear in the news all of the time).

Like most people, that’s been my motive for a lot of what I do, too. I don’t really have a set plan for what I want to do in life— I know I love to write and I know what fields I would rather not get into— but I do know that with whatever I do, I want to help the world and the people who live in it in any way that I can. I think helping others is really where happiness stems from.

However, in a world where it seems like there is a never-ending cycle of bad news, it can be kind of daunting to keep that “I’m going to change the world” mentality. It’s like, where do you even start? There are literally so many bad things happening in the world right now, and we only know what we see in the media. Imagine the amount of other stuff we don’t see.

Plus, there are billions of people in the world, and you’re only one person. What can you really do to make an impact?

Well, it’s time to insert a little story (that I am sure many of you have heard of) by Loren Eiseley that’s had a big impact on how I try to do things.

“Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.

He came closer still and called out ‘Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?’
The young man paused, looked up, and replied ‘Throwing starfish into the ocean.’

‘I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?’ asked the somewhat startled wise man.

To this, the young man replied, ‘The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die.’

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, ‘But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!’

At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, ‘It made a difference for that one.’”

What I like to tell myself is this— making the world a better place doesn’t mean the world. What does that mean? It means that “the world” does not have to mean the entire planet. It’s just not possible to save every single living creature that’s on this planet.

However, you can still make your world a better place. That basically means that you have the power to make the lives of those around you better. This could mean your parents, friends, family, co-workers, peers. Even if they’re just a stranger walking down the street and you simply smile at them, you have initiated that act of kindness towards them so that it may make them feel better. You’ve positively impacted their world in the process.

Your world may also be bigger than you imagine.

Kinda like I talked about in the above paragraph, you never really know how many people you can impact with simple acts of kindness. You may only see what’s around you but maybe you inspired someone in your life to stop using straws (shoutout to my sister who’s hardcore with that stuff), and then that person you’ve inspired inspires other people to stop using straws, and then before you know it, you’ve created this little community of non-straw-using environmentalists who have indirectly saved the lives of some random turtles in the middle of the ocean. Everything’s connected in a way that you can’t always see, and it’s really amazing how anything that you do in your lifetime impacts others to some degree, whether it be small or big, temporary or long-lasting.

For me, there are many times where I question whether or not what I am doing with my time on this earth is really of value. I mean, I know that my family and friends love me and that maybe I’ve helped people with their mental health stuff by posting stuff like this. But hey, I’m a human being. I’m also a human being in the midst of her 20s. I think I have the right to question what my life’s purpose is, okay?

But even when I doubt whether I’m living my life to the fullest 24/7, I do try to make small steps towards making the world around me a better place. Like I’ve been a vegetarian for almost a year (there will probably be a post about that experience in a few months), and I have just recently given up buying fast fashion since I’ve discovered how horrible for the environment the fashion industry is (check out “The True Cost”).

Even with this, it’s kind of crazy that I’ve had this blog for over two years. And to think that this started with just that first post of me saying how lonely I felt in college.

To be quite honest, this is where a lot of “Am I really making a difference?” doubt comes into play. There have been quite a few times where I’ve wondered if I should really be posting these sort of vulnerable things on the internet. I do really enjoy talking about mental health on here, don’t get me wrong, but talking about this stuff still isn’t widely accepted and I’ve been told that I shouldn’t say that I’m a mental health advocate because people will think there’s something “wrong” with me. It’s things like that that make me question if it’s worth it.

Still, I do like writing for this blog and it’s stories like that starfish one that make me think of the people I have been able to help with my posts. Even if it’s just a few people, even if I’ve only bettered their lives a little bit by showing that most of what people feel is universal. It’s that stuff that I try to focus on. That’s what I want to do with my time, and I’ll keep doing this for as long as I can.

There are a lot of things you can do to change the world around you. Be kind to others, donate to reputable charities (doesn’t have to be a large donation), shop second hand every once and awhile (fashion is the #2 most polluting industry and abuses workers), eat vegetarian and/or vegan here and there (the meat industry is also horrible for the environment and animal rights), volunteer, etc. For the mental health side of things, I’ve found that even just letting others know that they’re not alone in how they feel makes all of the difference in the world.

I know these little things don’t make that much of a difference in the grand scheme of things, but whatever I do, whatever you do, whatever we do on this planet, it has an impact somewhere in our lives, and that impact has the power to inspire many other people. If we all work together by making baby steps in our individual lives to make a positive world overall, change is bound to happen somewhere and to someone. And perhaps bettering the lives of others will better your life in the process.

Your friend,
Jane