you can make a difference

You CAN Make A Difference

Part 2

Click Here For Part 1: Widespread Threats/Opportunities Emerge

Click Here For Part 3: Do What You Can Within The Political System

Click Here For Part 4: Decide To Be A Serious Activist

Developed By Alice Holstein, Ed.D.

OP-EDs

Click Here "Waging" nonviolence and peace

Click Here Reasons for Hope In A New Year Full of Trouble

One prescription for how you can make a difference is a simple but profound one. Remember always that what you believe and do in your ordinary life makes a huge difference to those around you and thus to the collective. There is a ripple effect to healthy people’s demeanor and behavior. Random acts of kindness matter. Healthy relationships and good deeds matter. All of us know family, work mates or friends; how we interact with them matters. Do we exhibit and promote healthy loving relationships or do we inhibit these? Who you are and how you behave matters greatly to your own circle and thus to the world as a whole. Taking responsibility for this kind of behavior creates a positive impact even though it may not be measureable.

Want to help change the world in a more formal way? Find a local cause and volunteer. There is undoubtedly someone or something that needs your specific attention. It is many “little things” that add up to healthy people and decent living conditions. Join with a few others to empower yourself while you help empower others. Those who give of themselves generally discover that they receive so much more than they give.

One example of a modern-day ripple effect comes from a group where I was only tangentially involved. The ripple began with one person who proposed a book to read for the year titled, Waking Up White by Debby Irving. That reading created a small spin-off group that wanted to make a bigger difference. Soon that bigger group launched further activities that raised community consciousness about racial issues. Then a local University leader became involved, which led to a “community read” with some 1000 of Irving’s books distributed by the local library. A national Symposium was planned to feature small discussion groups and an address by the book’s author.

This was only part of the picture. The impetus spawned other programs on racism, given by local experts and national figures via zoom and virtual learning. Who knows how many have been affected, all of which began by one person suggesting a book to read, followed by a small group who pursued it.

I have another wonderful, true story that illustrates the power one person can have. It starts with a “food handler,” name unknown, who decided many years ago to give some extra time and loving kindness to a young woman who had been placed in an insane asylum dungeon because she was acting out. The food handler first spent time with her beyond just delivering the food. She paid caring attention. The young woman began to get a little better. Then the food handler was allowed inside the dungeon where she taught her how to knit despite the fact that the young woman’s sight was impaired. Again, the young woman responded to this loving attention, gradually becoming well enough to go “upstairs” where she was selected to attend an institute for the blind.

This is the story of the young woman, Anne Sullivan who eventually became Helen Keller’s “savior teacher and lifelong companion. Helen was a wild, undisciplined child until Sullivan was able to reach her by “tough teaching” her the meaning of “water,” which opened the world of language and understanding to Keller. Thus, Helen Keller’s worldwide influence was actually the result of a food handler who cared enough to love a seemingly mentally ill young woman back to life. Similarly, your efforts may not have such dramatic effects, but there are literally millions of people who would thrive with more love and attention. You will probably never know what the ripple effects will be, but every act of love and care makes a difference in the world at large.

© Alice A. Holstein, 2022. Please feel free to share this document while acknowledging its authorship.

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