You Can Change the World…But Are You?
This week I attended my son’s commencement ceremony at Lehigh University. You’ve read about Brian’s lacrosse team here in the past. What a great four years. As parents of a Division I student-athlete, my husband (Alan) and I participated much more in his college experience than we did in our other son’s. So this commencement was bittersweet for us too.
Do we really have to graduate? Alan and I were having so much fun! We could really empathize with the cap-and-gown clad students as we sat in the football stadium to be inspired by the speakers and celebrate the success of the students.
The “big name” speaker was Bill Nye – “The Science Guy”. He is quite gifted and VERY smart (as in discovering things they use on Mars). The theme of his talk was “You can change the world”. I love that idea.
As he pointed out…these young graduates are so accomplished already. Of course one of them could find the cure for cancer, invent something to prevent global warming or mastermind some hedge fund to fuel success in a third world country. Whew, it’s exhausting to think about. Good thing most of them are under 25!
As you might guess, the speech got me thinking. What am I doing to change the world? Are you thinking the same thing right now about yourself?
Happily, I work to change the world every day. From my own personal actions to the things I write and speak about – my goal is always to make a positive difference for everyone I come in contact with and then some. I know a lot of you feel the same way.
And, for the rest of you…if “change THE world” feels like too much, then simply focus on how you can “change YOUR world”. If every person did this, we’d end up changing THE world as a result.
Continued below…
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So here’s some food for thought…
What’s one incremental change that you could regularly make that would change YOUR world for the better?
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Add a gratitude trigger to remind you to be grateful every day. You’ll smile more and folks in your world will like that.
- Thank those around you. Notice when other people do things that please you and offer sincere thanks . You’ll be more appreciative and folks in your world will enjoy that.
- Stop gossiping and complaining. You’ll have less drama and negative energy and the folks in your world will feel lighter and more enthused.
- Take time to be quiet and reflect. Stop rushing and pay attention to the little things. You’ll be more calm and centered and folks in your world will catch on that sometimes less is more.
We all have “graduation” opportunities in our lives. Each day we finish up one thing and start on another. Imagine if we put as much energy into each commencement at work as we do in college.
You can change YOUR world and THE world. You already are whether you’re doing it on purpose or not. Why not make sure you’re changing it for the better!