It's not just people unwilling to go, to do; it's also people unwilling to stop, to change.
Both "It's not my job" and "It's not my fault" come from the same heart, and it's a selfish one.
The illustration that brings this to mind is actually a "Despair.com" poster. If you are not familiar with them, they are wonderfully ironic, challenging, stabbing... hilarious and painful... demotivational posters. Here's the one that brings all this apathy and responsibility stuff to mind:
"No single raindrop believes it is to blame for the flood."
Besides the fact that a raindrop cannot believe... lacks the ability to do so... how true is this?
Think about the Nazi regime, Nuremberg trials, and the many that said they had no choice.
Think about the missed opportunities you have had to make a difference in a life today.
And, yes, I am trying to motivate and inspire you using a poster that was meant to demotivate...
Anyway, I also brought this up because I feel like sharing a poem I wrote on this subject, where the speaker is that raindrop that might just fall and become part of a tidal wave of renewal...
Responsible (Rain)
I am not responsible
To see the whole world changed.
I am not in charge:
I cannot, nations, rearrange.
I am but cloud, vapor,
Hanging in the atmosphere
I am bodiless, weightless,
I can do nothing up here…
What if I condescended to coalesce?
Came together as one entity,
Changed from vapor to liquidity,
Discovered that I could be weighty?
What if I fell, I barreled down,
Took my thimble of water to the land,
Allowed my self to be a sacrifice
Even just to dampen a grain of sand.
What if a hundred joined the crusade,
A thousand saw the spectacular fall?
What if a million heard of the news
And decided that it was worth their all?
Then we, we dirty few down here
Who quench first the dusty land,
Would see first-hand the waters rise,
See this act that God has planned.
See, I am responsible
To see my world changed:
For my heart affects my vision,
My mind and soul need grace.
See, I am responsible
To see my life rearranged:
With power beyond imagination,
From life, I need not be estranged.
Dive with me! Bring down the clouds!
Come! Splash! Ripple!
Never let the land be parched!
You, responsible to be used,
Play your tiny, wondrous, part!
(As always, any edits, questions, comments, disagreements, clarifications, etc. are welcome here, in my email, and in person :-) )
