why the world does not need superman
“You know what’s weird? Day by day, nothing seems to change. But pretty soon, everything’s different.” – Calvin and Hobbes
We wake up to the same old boring routine. Every day seems like just any other. Yet little do we realize the impact of little matters in the great scheme of things. There are approximately six billion people in the world right now. It is easily understandable how one would feel tiny and powerless in a world so immense. You’d be surprised how one small grain of rice can tip the scale.
Oftentimes, we feel helpless in solving the dilemmas that plague our society. Environmental pollution, increasing crime rates, corruption, and the lack of unity are merely some of the problems that our country is currently facing. Looking at the world around us, it seems so resolute and unyielding that we feel that someone else or something bigger than we are, is responsible to generate the change that is needed to make this world a better place.
We depend on someone else to alleviate us from these problems. We find a savior in someone, a friend, a family member, a teacher, the Mayor or the President, who would make our problems vanish into thin air, like how it is often depicted in movies. But reality is far more different and complex than those made up lines and choreographed scenes. It entails us to face it head on and deal with the consequences of our decisions
We often concentrate on the big picture that we fail to see that it is the little pigments of color that comprise that big picture. As the Indian spiritual leader, Mahatma Gandhi puts it, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” We can not expect the world to change instantly when we are guilty of the same misdemeanors. Change should begin from within. Little things can go a long way. Like how a ripple expands, it takes one catalyst to emanate the upturn we wish to see in our communities.
Before we can expect to have a better government, we should be better citizens. Rather than pointing fingers and playing the blame game, take an introspective look at what you can do to solve the problem and not contribute to it. Bickering and nonsensical matters sidetrack us from the issues that need to be addressed. We can not solely hold the government responsible for all the problems the country is facing. The fate of this country rests on the hands of its citizens and not just some selected people in the government.
Small things can ultimately create a big difference. In Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point, he explores the phenomena of epidemics. Gladwell shares how something as small like a child with a virus can get an epidemic started. How teenagers, despite health warnings and hazards increasingly smoke cigarettes or how a novel written by an unknown author catapults into the best seller’s list. The tipping point or angle of repose is a sociological term coined by Morton Grodzins, which refers to that dramatic moment where something unique becomes common.
An excerpt from Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point:
“Have you ever thought about yawning, for instance? Yawning is a surprisingly powerful act. Just because you read the word “yawning” in the previous sentences – and two additional “yawns” in this sentence - a good number of you will probably yawn within the next few minutes. Even as I’m writing this, I’ve yawned twice. If you are reading this in a public place, and you’ve just yawned, chances are that a good proportion of everyone who saw you yawn is now yawning too, and a good proportion of the people who watched them yawn are now yawning as well, and on and on, in an ever-widening yawning circle.”
Epidemics are oftentimes associated with contagiousness of diseases and viruses like the breakout of SARS, bird flu and AIDS. As notorious and widespread as they are right now, it all started from someone somewhere. The details may not matter but the outcome is prevalent. The same concept could be applied and used in a more positive light. The notion of being the change we wish to see in the world could be our starting point to an epidemic. We can change the world by changing ourselves.
We may not be influential political leaders, powerful tycoons or famous celebrities that could reach out to countless people. Or Superman, who can save the world, but in ourselves, we can be the catalysts of change. One person can make all the difference.
We wake up to the same old boring routine. Every day seems like just any other. Yet little do we realize the impact of little matters in the great scheme of things. There are approximately six billion people in the world right now. It is easily understandable how one would feel tiny and powerless in a world so immense. You’d be surprised how one small grain of rice can tip the scale.
Oftentimes, we feel helpless in solving the dilemmas that plague our society. Environmental pollution, increasing crime rates, corruption, and the lack of unity are merely some of the problems that our country is currently facing. Looking at the world around us, it seems so resolute and unyielding that we feel that someone else or something bigger than we are, is responsible to generate the change that is needed to make this world a better place.
We depend on someone else to alleviate us from these problems. We find a savior in someone, a friend, a family member, a teacher, the Mayor or the President, who would make our problems vanish into thin air, like how it is often depicted in movies. But reality is far more different and complex than those made up lines and choreographed scenes. It entails us to face it head on and deal with the consequences of our decisions
We often concentrate on the big picture that we fail to see that it is the little pigments of color that comprise that big picture. As the Indian spiritual leader, Mahatma Gandhi puts it, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” We can not expect the world to change instantly when we are guilty of the same misdemeanors. Change should begin from within. Little things can go a long way. Like how a ripple expands, it takes one catalyst to emanate the upturn we wish to see in our communities.
Before we can expect to have a better government, we should be better citizens. Rather than pointing fingers and playing the blame game, take an introspective look at what you can do to solve the problem and not contribute to it. Bickering and nonsensical matters sidetrack us from the issues that need to be addressed. We can not solely hold the government responsible for all the problems the country is facing. The fate of this country rests on the hands of its citizens and not just some selected people in the government.
Small things can ultimately create a big difference. In Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point, he explores the phenomena of epidemics. Gladwell shares how something as small like a child with a virus can get an epidemic started. How teenagers, despite health warnings and hazards increasingly smoke cigarettes or how a novel written by an unknown author catapults into the best seller’s list. The tipping point or angle of repose is a sociological term coined by Morton Grodzins, which refers to that dramatic moment where something unique becomes common.
An excerpt from Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point:
“Have you ever thought about yawning, for instance? Yawning is a surprisingly powerful act. Just because you read the word “yawning” in the previous sentences – and two additional “yawns” in this sentence - a good number of you will probably yawn within the next few minutes. Even as I’m writing this, I’ve yawned twice. If you are reading this in a public place, and you’ve just yawned, chances are that a good proportion of everyone who saw you yawn is now yawning too, and a good proportion of the people who watched them yawn are now yawning as well, and on and on, in an ever-widening yawning circle.”
Epidemics are oftentimes associated with contagiousness of diseases and viruses like the breakout of SARS, bird flu and AIDS. As notorious and widespread as they are right now, it all started from someone somewhere. The details may not matter but the outcome is prevalent. The same concept could be applied and used in a more positive light. The notion of being the change we wish to see in the world could be our starting point to an epidemic. We can change the world by changing ourselves.
We may not be influential political leaders, powerful tycoons or famous celebrities that could reach out to countless people. Or Superman, who can save the world, but in ourselves, we can be the catalysts of change. One person can make all the difference.
posted by michelle @ 11:36 AM
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