Changing the World

I have encountered noble individuals in my life whose mission is to change the world. A daunting task, changing the world is not so easy, at least I do not think so, as otherwise everyone would change the world. I no longer put stock on people who claim they will change the world. There is usually a feeling of admiration, but deep down I am skeptical if they will, in fact, change the world. To those people, don’t just say I’m going to change the world. Rather say: “I’m going to change the world for the better.”

I once met a girl who would always claim she was going to change the world. A friend once, now friend no longer, not through any fault of mine I assure you. As far as I know I did nothing even remotely out of line, much less insult her. Life is funny like that, you put people in pedestals and then they let you down. Lesson learned. I no longer put people in a pedestal. You shouldn’t either, it would only disillusion you. So, this girl, she never told me how she was going to change the world. I think she was going to be an attorney and maybe enter politics, I don’t remember anymore. All the best luck to her. What I do remember is that she would always wear fancy clothes and take professional portraits all the time. There is no harm in that, I suppose. Her parents apparently had deep pockets. One time, I complimented her on a pair of blue jeans she had on, really cute pants to be honest. She remarked, in an conceited way, that they were 400 dollars!

Then… it hit me. How can someone wearing such expensive clothes change the world? Somehow, I cannot imagine Gandhi, Mother Teresa, or Joan of Arc (people who did change the world) wear 400 dollar jeans or thousand dollar dresses. Nah, I daresay the people that change the world are the people that never say they will change the world. They just do it. Armed with humility, people can change the world, not armed with 400 dollar pants, unless you want to change the world by becoming another Paris Hilton. When I mean change, I mean the real positive changes for humanity. Many of us are caught in our own magnificence and, perhaps, arrogance that just because we certainly know more than others, we think we can change the world. Humility is very hard to acquire, I wrestle all the time to keep it with me, but flashes of arrogance do surface from time to time. I think to myself: First change yourself, and then try to change the world. It is suffice to say that I will never change the world but, then again, that has never been my mission to begin with. Maybe my mentality differs greatly to fellow peers who have always had a privileged life. I come from nothing and I feel inferior, as I still am nothing. Yet, even if I had tons of money, just giving it away will not solve anything. The most I could do is change someone’s life. Yeah, I can do that. If I cannot change the world for the better, I would like to change someone’s life for the better.