I am insignificant. What can I do?
I’m nobody. No one listens to me.
Why should I bother? I may as well give it up.
There are nearly seven billion people on the planet, and I am only one. I can’t make a difference.
Oh yeah. So easy to be defeatist. So easy to throw in the towel. So easy to go with the stream, because one little fish swimming against the current isn’t going to do any good at all.
What am I talking about? Everything. Nothing. The problems of the world around us seem insurmountable. There are earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes, floods, and drought. There are oil spills, rainforest clearcuts, and endangered species. Politics is a sham, no matter which side of the coin you rest on. Need I go on?
I am one person. I cannot solve the world’s problems. I do not have the power to halt the forces of nature or the boardrooms of BP. It’s easy to become depressed or immune.
What can I do? Very little, it’s true. But I haven’t been ‘called’ to the big things. All I can do is be faithful in the little things. The things in my path. The choices I make, by themselves, don’t make a big difference to the Earth as a whole. Even if all of my friends united and made changes together, we’re still only a teensy, minuscule school of fish. Swimming upstream. Floundering.
Why bother?
Ah, but I do make a difference. The difference may not be noticed ten miles from home, but here, in my sphere, my choices do have an effect. A big change we’ve made in the past few years is to garden more and source a higher percentage of local food. You may look at that and say, “How nice for the Comer family.” “I can’t do that.” “I live in an apartment.” “My family would rebel.” “Nobody grows food where I live.” “Who cares?” Or… fill in the blank.
So your contribution, your “one little thing” may be different than mine. That’s okay. We’re not meant to be clones. We’re unique individuals with our own talents, opportunities, and contacts.
How about you? What can you do to use your Power of One?
Originally posted in 2012 by Valerie Comer at choose-now.com.