Heroines.
Follow your dreams.
Change the world.
I must admit, just seeing these words gives me a happy feeling inside. After all, I have already fulfilled my tenth-grade-image of a hero, I’m following the beginning of my dreams, and I suppose there are people out there who would tell me I’m changing the world. But something happens right about the time you’ve been home from a foreign country for a month – you realize your trip is a blurry fog. And the concept of heroes, dreams, and changing the world is seated deep in that thick fog. For me, I become stir crazy – get me out of the fog!!
I find one of my greatest push backs from believing I’m living right or from going forward is the idea I need to do something big. My newest revelation is:
in order to be a part of something big, you have to be just that: a part.
When I hear the word part, I immediately think of something small, like a screw or the band on my watch – or you make think of a roof or a church building. But if you want to be a part of something big, then you must look at the greater context: the house or the city. And in the context of that larger spectrum, there is always one thing you will feel: small.
Small seems easy, but small is scary. We are afraid of doing something small. Why? Simply put: in small things there may be no human glory. When I say a kind word to a stranger, encourage the employees at the fast food joint, or give thank you cards to my friends explaining how I appreciate them, there has never been a bright spotlight or someone proclaiming me a heroine. I will go on with my day, and I’ll most likely not know if the world was changed today. If your confidence is found in being noticed, small things suddenly become very lonely and terrifying.
But the thing is, every “something BIG” is composed of small actions. While in Chiang Mai, Thailand, every friendship I made started from small actions. And the way to transform a broken city into a healed, thriving city is to heal relationships. We often think we need to change what we are doing, to do something bigger. But when was the last time you were changed by simply hearing of a commendable organization or hearing the announcements at a church? Simply appearing like something big or talking about all the things you do changes nothing. In those places, the world is changed, but only because of constant small actions.
So, the next time you want to do something big or return from a lengthy trip, don’t get bogged down in the fog. Find out what part you are (or are to be) in the “something bigger” or a photo to remember a specific moment on your trip, and be encouraged to simply do small things more often.