Post 2 for the day, enrollment
This is something I was thinking about a few days ago regarding a conversation I had with my roommate the evening before. I came up with this after thinking about it for a while, I told him the next day and he said he wanted me to write it down for later because he wants me to have it to compare from now to later after I complete some other stuff I'm working on. Anyway, don't worry about that for right now. I'm sharing it as is because I still think it's interesting and useful and that people will enjoy it. So here below, is essentially what I said.
Everywhere I go I can look and see problems, things that are wrong, things that should not be the way they are. Can you see those things too? I'll help you. What are some complaints you have in the course of a day? Think about driving in traffic, what about your co-workers or your boss, what about conversations you overhear at a restaurant, what about things you witness while out shopping a few days before Christmas, what about that bum on the corner, or the starving orphans in North Korea, or the killing in Iraq, or the things you hear about on the news, or things being put before Congress, or the things politicians themselves do? Yeah, I knew you saw it too even if it was different from what I saw.
Why are those things like that? Why do they happen? Why do they keep happening even after you see them? Why do they keep happening even after you started to complain about them to others to raise their awareness?
Well, believe it or not, I've found the answer to those questions and it's really obvious too.
Those things are still like that because you didn't do anything about them.
I'm not accusing you, I'm not blaming you, I'm not shouldering you with the responsibility for why they're still like that. But they're still like that simply because YOU didn't do anything about it.
Why didn't you do anything about it? Is it because you didn't think you could make any difference?
Let's think about that for a minute. You're one person. CAN you make a difference? Can you REALLY end the killing in Iraq, or keep the orphans in North Korea fed, or fix any of these other problems?
No, of course not. One person cannot fix any of these problems, not one of them! It won't do any good to try either because the problems are quite simply beyond what you can do. How can one person feed and take care of all of the starving kids in North Korea? How can one person stop all the killing in Iraq? It's stupid to think you can fix any of these problems, you'd be a fool to think so.
But let's look at what one person is. One person is one person. You say, "Well duh!" But why is one person one person? Because they're only one person. That means they're not two people, or three, or twenty etc. One person today is one person out of 6.8 billion. In fraction form that's 1/6,800,000,000, and that's a TINY faction! Do you see now why one person can't make a difference?
But can one person make a difference? Yes.
What about everything I just said up there? How can the answer be yes now? Well, that's simple. It's because one person is not one person, not in this world. In this world one person is more than one person, one person is one person AND one out of 6.8 billion other people. And furthermore, EVERY person is one person AND one out of 6.8 billion people.
Here's why that's important. Since one person cannot make a difference because they're only one person and it's impossible for one person to make a difference, one person only has to realize that they aren't just one person, but also one out of 6.8 billion people. When this happens, and one person DOES SOMETHING ABOUT IT, something amazing happens because of everything I said above.
That one person being one of 6.8 billion people doing something about it instantly makes it possible for ANY of those one out of 6.8 billion people to do the very same thing. Is there any problem you can think of that can't be solved by 6.8 billion people doing something about it? I didn't think so.
So remember that next time you see a problem, something wrong, or something that shouldn't be the way it is. The reason something is the way it is even though you noticed it and might have even complained about it to other people is that you didn't do anything about it. Now, what are you going to do about it?
Everywhere I go I can look and see problems, things that are wrong, things that should not be the way they are. Can you see those things too? I'll help you. What are some complaints you have in the course of a day? Think about driving in traffic, what about your co-workers or your boss, what about conversations you overhear at a restaurant, what about things you witness while out shopping a few days before Christmas, what about that bum on the corner, or the starving orphans in North Korea, or the killing in Iraq, or the things you hear about on the news, or things being put before Congress, or the things politicians themselves do? Yeah, I knew you saw it too even if it was different from what I saw.
Why are those things like that? Why do they happen? Why do they keep happening even after you see them? Why do they keep happening even after you started to complain about them to others to raise their awareness?
Well, believe it or not, I've found the answer to those questions and it's really obvious too.
Those things are still like that because you didn't do anything about them.
I'm not accusing you, I'm not blaming you, I'm not shouldering you with the responsibility for why they're still like that. But they're still like that simply because YOU didn't do anything about it.
Why didn't you do anything about it? Is it because you didn't think you could make any difference?
Let's think about that for a minute. You're one person. CAN you make a difference? Can you REALLY end the killing in Iraq, or keep the orphans in North Korea fed, or fix any of these other problems?
No, of course not. One person cannot fix any of these problems, not one of them! It won't do any good to try either because the problems are quite simply beyond what you can do. How can one person feed and take care of all of the starving kids in North Korea? How can one person stop all the killing in Iraq? It's stupid to think you can fix any of these problems, you'd be a fool to think so.
But let's look at what one person is. One person is one person. You say, "Well duh!" But why is one person one person? Because they're only one person. That means they're not two people, or three, or twenty etc. One person today is one person out of 6.8 billion. In fraction form that's 1/6,800,000,000, and that's a TINY faction! Do you see now why one person can't make a difference?
But can one person make a difference? Yes.
What about everything I just said up there? How can the answer be yes now? Well, that's simple. It's because one person is not one person, not in this world. In this world one person is more than one person, one person is one person AND one out of 6.8 billion other people. And furthermore, EVERY person is one person AND one out of 6.8 billion people.
Here's why that's important. Since one person cannot make a difference because they're only one person and it's impossible for one person to make a difference, one person only has to realize that they aren't just one person, but also one out of 6.8 billion people. When this happens, and one person DOES SOMETHING ABOUT IT, something amazing happens because of everything I said above.
That one person being one of 6.8 billion people doing something about it instantly makes it possible for ANY of those one out of 6.8 billion people to do the very same thing. Is there any problem you can think of that can't be solved by 6.8 billion people doing something about it? I didn't think so.
So remember that next time you see a problem, something wrong, or something that shouldn't be the way it is. The reason something is the way it is even though you noticed it and might have even complained about it to other people is that you didn't do anything about it. Now, what are you going to do about it?