Change the World?

All of us have dreams, don't we?

We all want to excel and succeed in life.

I always seem to be confronted by two incompatible beliefs, one optimistic, the other pessimistic. One tells me to always live my dreams, change the world, set something on fire, believe in myself, and other vaguely encouraging remarks. The second proclaims that you can't change the world, don't waste your time. Pursue your dreams, but only the ones within your reach. Don't go any further unless you have a certainty of success. 

With one, realization of one's dreams is key. Better to try and lose everything, than to be paralyzed by doubt and fear of failure. For the other, it is better never to fail. If you want to succeed in life, then keep the bar low.You'll reach it every time. 

Isn't there a better way? Can't we aim for the highest of heights, but keep our plans practical? Can't the grandest of aspirations be balanced by pragmatic realizations?

We shouldn't hope to change the world, but we shouldn't despair of helping it. The problem is, that's such an overused, cliche, vague phrase. Honestly, what does it even mean? Change the world. Change what about it? Change the global economic structure? Eradicate poverty from every corner of society? Enforce an absolute peace upon the world? 

It's a fool's errand and that's the problem. We try lifting the world, struggle greatly, and eventually we crumble beneath its weight. But on the other side of the spectrum, we see such failures play out before our eyes, weigh the chances, and turn away.  Both paths lead to the same result: Failure. Failure to act or failure to succeed. 

The thing is, we were never meant to change the world. No matter how much you and I try, we just can't. And that might be hard to accept, but it's ok. Why did we become so concerned about the numbers anyway? Was Jesus a failure because He didn't physically heal every person in the world? He only fed five thousand, not five million or five billion. 

He looked at the immediate circumstances of where He was and did something about it. He didn't zoom about on a chariot, healing and feeding entire towns wholesale, as he roared through the countryside, a cloud of dust and disciples trailing after Him. 

Jesus heals persons, not peoples. He's feeds humans, not humanity. His concern focused on the here and now, the people present before Him. Even as He suffered and died to redeem Humanity, He still turned to the man beside Him on the cross and offered him the comfort and hope of Heaven.

The more we become so focused and distracted by the numbers, the easier it is to forget the person standing right before us.

We all have limits, we only can stretch so far. It doesn't matter if we can help one person or a thousand. What matters is that we helped. Each life we touch is priceless. Each life is of unfathomable importance. You can't measure that. You can't determine whether something is a success or not, only by the numbers. 

You've done something good. You changed someone's life for the better. You've probably even changed your own. In the end, it doesn't matter whether you succeeded. It doesn't matter if you failed. What matters is that you tried. 

If only we all did.

That would change the world.