I would like to start off by raising a simple question. Have you ever felt that you can’t make a difference? That it is impossible?
Well, if it wasn’t for Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela taking the forefront, India and South Africa respectively would have been in miserable conditions even today. If it wasn’t for the contributions of Raja Ram Mohan Roy towards the abolition of barbaric practices like Sati, we would still be suffering under such social standards.
How about Tukaram Omble, the policeman who took 40 bullets fired from Kasab’s gun, but caught him alive! If not for him, Indian history would have seen a more horrific massacre in Mumbai. One human with an adamantine will, that’s all it took.
It is important to remember that faith can move mountains and doubts can create them. Hugo Junkers made a plane that could carry humans, Madam Curie discovered radioactivity that is one of the most important things in curing cancer today, Da Vinci secretly studied human anatomy in the west whereas here in India, Sushruta invented modern day surgical procedures back in 800BC which today save many lives.
If my count is right, these contributions have saved and improved so many lives over the years and all it needed was one human, one vision and one indomitable will.
However, one common misconception when one talks of bringing the change is that, people think the change always needs to be as big as the one brought by Mahatma Gandhi or Mother Teresa or Elon Musk. That’s not true.
To bring about meaningful change, we can’t always expect instant results or large-scale impact. Actual impact could take considerable amount of time, and making the world a better place is synonymous with transforming it for the better, even if it is for a handful of people.
Each time, that you make an effort and manage to change the life of even one individual for the better, you’re initiating a ‘butterfly effect’ with the potential to improve lives for the coming generations.
Whether it’s by volunteering at a food stall that feeds poor or starting a nonprofit organization or caring for stray animals in your locality, what you do today, even something as small as planting one plant a month, can lead to lasting change.
Change isn’t smooth, it’s not supposed to be. It always seems impossible until its done and there has to be that ‘someone’ to be the fuel of an engine. Believe it or not, that ‘someone’ lies within each one of us. To conclude, all I would like to say is that, while your efforts may seem small when you compare them to the large society you live in, remember, the ripple effects of small things are extraordinary.
Thus, you matter and so does every individual with a will to bring change.