People who talk about something they’d clearly like to change and then say “But there’s nothing I can do; that’s just the way it is” drive me crazy. I see this attitude on a fairly regular basis. It doesn’t take long to find some idea, institution, or practice that most people you ask will say is always going to exist and will never look much different than it currently does. Try suggesting changing or eliminating that particular thing and see how they react. They’ll probably look at you like you’re insane, insist that your suggestion is impossible, and do everything they can to avoid seriously considering your proposal for even a second. That gets old fast.
To a certain extent, I can understand their reluctance to think outside the box. I sometimes can’t think of a solution to a particular problem until someone else presents me with one, especially if it’s in an area that I know little to nothing about. I always appreciate whenever someone points me toward a solution because it reminds me to think in terms of possibilities rather than limitations. My entire attitude can be summed up this way: “I’m sure this can be done, I just don’t know how to do it yet.” This, along with regular practice at coming up with as many different potential solutions as I can to all kinds of problems, has honed my creativity and allowed me to see things that lots of other people miss. My curiosity and appetite for knowledge constantly introduce me to all kinds of things that help me put the pieces together in ways that, to my knowledge, nobody else has.
I used to argue with people about dismantling current societal systems and replacing them with better systems or even replacing them with nothing. Once I realized that this was a big waste of time and only served to make everyone involved upset (including me), I stopped arguing and started focusing on ways to bring my ideas to life. There are a lot of things that I’d like to see changed and I hope to be directly involved in as many as I can. The best way I can think to do that is to help as many people as possible get into solid, stable life situations so that they can live as they like and turn their dreams into reality. While I’m not yet in a position to do that to the extent that I have in mind, I still find ways within my current means and abilities to help people where they’re at. This is much more meaningful and rewarding than arguing over things that haven’t happened yet.
There is too much talk of how things could be and not enough action to make them that way. Meetings, planning sessions, discussion forums, and the like keep us all trapped in our current reality by using up a lot of our time, energy, money, and other resources that we could be using to make the world a better place. Some things require extensive planning and brainstorming before they’re carried out, but plenty of things can easily be done by starting from scratch, trying different possibilities until you find something that works, and making adjustments on the fly. Direction action is within the reach of nearly everyone. You don’t have to make a major change right out the gate; just find some small ways to make a positive difference, such as random acts of kindness, and put them into practice as often as possible. Kindness and goodness spread, so your example will inspire others to pay it forward. I started the Joker Challenge last week and, in addition to getting an overwhelmingly positive response, someone I know completed the challenge before the day was up. It cost me hardly anything to come up with the challenge and put it online and it’s already started making a difference for mental health. I’d like to see more of that with anything worth doing. How about you?