I have been really gloomy lately and I have not been able to pinpoint why. I continually found myself assuming it had everything to do with the obvious downfalls of 2020 and I became okay with telling myself that it was out of my control. This not only forced me to accept this blank state of mind, but also limited my hopes for the future.
The problems that exist in the world have always made me, like many others, pretty upset. While it’s not out of the ordinary to wonder why such a beautiful place can have such a dark side, I’ve recently found myself feeling hopeless knowing I can’t change the lives of so many people struggling. I accepted the reality that I don’t have the power to save the 1.8 billion people in poverty, or help the 1 in every 5 women who are sexually assaulted in their lifetime. While the list goes on, I found myself getting frustrated and emotional about something that I thought I had no control over until I came across a man named Nick Vujicic.
Nick Vujicic is an Australian American Christian Evangelist and motivational speaker who was born with Tetra-Amelia Syndrome, characterized by a lack of arms and legs. Nick travels the world to share his emotional story of how he went from an attempted suicide at 19 years old to one of the biggest global inspirations (he has met with 21 Presidents and traveled to 74 countries.) Nick emphasizes the importance of what he refers to as the “instigation of purpose.” This phrase essentially explains how Nick's goal is to inspire people to get rid of the attitude that I recently found myself guilty of.
Nick’s appearance on the DearMedia podcast “The Skinny Confidential” made me realize a handful of important things. First and foremost, he taught me that I actually can make a difference. He explained that the key is starting small. I was naive to think that I would only be satisfied if I changed the world when in reality changing one life can feel like the world. Whether that means rescuing one of the 40 million sex slaves in the world today or checking in on a friend that may be struggling, Nick emphasizes the importance of helping someone that can’t help themselves.
I believe telling myself that I don’t have the ability to make a big difference has always been my fallback. I’ve lived a normal and happy life which somehow convinced me that I didn’t have a meaningful story to tell. Nick made me realize that, now more than ever, anyone who really wants to has the power to make a difference in someone’s life. We need to put aside the mentality of one person can't make a difference because all good actions will help in one way or another. Nick says, “2020 has been rough, and even the strongest of us have been on the floor” so using the excuse of having ‘nothing to give’ or no knowledge to share just is not good enough anymore. We all went through something this year which means we all have something to give.
There’s no better time to focus on finding someone or something to give to. And if giving is not really your thing, my dad always used to say doing something good is actually selfish because of how good it makes you feel.
Listen to Nick Vujicic on The Skinny Confidential:
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