Maybe It’s You

Day 58

There’s a lot wrong with the world. It can be overwhelming now that we have every instance of evil at our fingertips. I don’t know what you’re passionate about, but I’m sure there are some societal issues that have kept you up at night. Your issue might be domestic violence, animal abuse, protecting children, gun control, preventing sexual assault, the environment, combating racism, promoting health, etc. Whatever that “thing” is you want us, as a society, to be better at, please stop waiting for someone else to fix it. They won’t. This hypothetical person (or group of people) would have done it by now. And even if there are people working hard to fix it, clearly there aren’t enough because it’s still a problem.

This is where you come in.

Any societal change starts with someone getting pissed off about something, realizing there isn’t enough being done, realizing no one else is going to fill in that gap, and finally trying to do it themselves.

I know, I know — you’re not strong enough, smart enough, connected enough or rich enough. You think, “isn’t there someone else who is better equipped?!” But you’re asking the wrong questions. It’s not about if you are “x” enough, it’s about if you’ve had enough. Because once you’ve had enough, you can become enough. It’s also not about who is more equipped because untapped potential is just that — untapped. Who cares if someone is smarter than you if they’re not willing to invest their intelligence to change this societal issue? (With all that said, you’re probably not giving your self enough credit and giving whoever these “better equipped” people are too much.)

The problem is many of us stay in “I’ve had enough” mode. We spin our wheels in a rage as we have social tantrums until our eyes dry out — only to fall asleep on the floor of apathy and helplessness against the worldly powers that be.

But if we take it to the next level, take ownership and say, “this is my problem and I will figure out how to fix it,” we focus our minds on solutions instead of just problems. Anger at problems is good because it will give you the fire you’ll need when the days and nights are long and the battles feel like they can’t be won, but it won’t be enough. Anger toward solutions is one of the most disruptive and amazing things we’ve gotten to experience in the course of human history. It rocks our world and makes us re-imagine what’s possible. It’s saved lives — so many lives. There just needs to be a person who channels that energy.

Maybe it’s you.