I am struck by this post from Seth Godin about the media making us out to be astronomers.
One line summary: the media leads us to believe we are passive witnesses to the world in the same way astronomers are passive witnesses to the universe.
It’s easy to see the helplessness written on our faces as we are bombarded by all the chaos of the moment, finding it easier to just hope for the best rather than take action. After all, given the scale of what’s happening, our actions may seem so minor—so insignificant.
It will take a great feat by a great person and that’s just too big of a bill to pay right now.
But… when you consider the consequences of actions are not from a great few (although they inspire and do move the needle), but from the multitude, it becomes more manageable. For instance, we often think of employee theft as one person stealing thousands of dollars, when the reality is hundreds of employees stealing a few dollars… totaling thousands.
Making change isn’t one great act, but thousands of people making thousands of little ones.
What little act can we do today?