In a conversation I had with a friend this weekend, we discussed a situation that involved a child and their dad which ended in a way that my friend considered "bad".
The child was bounced from parent to parent...home to home, none of which were "fit" to raise a child. Finally, the child wound up in a children’s home and had to be taken in by another family member. The child was legally adopted by that family member and the child's father came to live in the house as well...temporarily.
Eventually, the father was told to find his own place and because the family was so disrupted by the new arrangements, it was also necessary for the child to go with the father.
My friend felt a tremendous amount of guilt over the whole situation and felt they had "let the child down" by not following through with the original custody arrangements. "But you can't save the World...so why bother trying?" Was the statement that caught my attention.
"Did you change one child's view of the World?"
"Did you not show one child that no matter what life throws at you, there are people who care about you and are willing to turn their lives upside down to do what's best for you?"
"Did you not inspire one parent to set an unbelievable goal and hold him accountable to it?"
"Did you not save YOUR piece of the World?"
ABSOLUTELY!!!
Then I spoke my 8th Realization of 2012:
People have given up on the "Save the World" mentality because it’s just too overwhelming. To most people our world is too big and too broken for 1 person to fix. And although it's true, I, all alone cannot save the World...I can save my little piece of it! And by doing so, I can inspire others to save their piece too! So if I am going to "Save the World"...I have to start with my little piece of it.
01/09/2012
